Jack and the Masters
by Jedh3
Summary: Jack finally Defeats Aku, but is sent back into the future. Only this time, Aku does not rule. Fortunately there is a place for an ancient Samurai to go in modern day Japan. After all, the people there claim to be History's Strongest. Rating may change in the future, depending on what happens.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Samurai Jack, or any Characters and/or concepts from History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi.

Also, Please review but I would appreciate it if you criticize, please tell me how to improve and not just insult my writing.

* * *

After his long travels, Jack finally returned to his home time, and defeated Aku. It was a moment he had spent the past several years working towards, and he had finally made it. As soon as he was home, the first thing he did was go to Aku's palace. He arrived just in time to see Aku send him to the future. He smiled, knowing that Aku had no clue that he would still be beaten so easily. The p[ortal was still open, but his past self was gone, so he leaped into action. "AAAAKUUUUU!" he screamed wildly at the demon,

"What!? No! How!?" the black creature looked upon the Samurai with terror, not knowing what had transpired. Jack slashed his magic sword down, cutting Aku in two. One side scampered off to the side, while the other lay there limp.

"No! You will not get away Aku!" Jack said with conviction, as he ran after the piece. In his fury, he did not notice a tendril of Aku's limp half wrap around his ankle. He stabbed down, trapping the part of Aku he thought was the only living piece. "It ends now." He said as he raised his sword.

"Yes. You have defeated me." Aku admitted. "I will not survive as I am right now, even if you do not strike the next blow, I will be done." Jack hesitated a moment, wondering why the demon was admitting defeat. Before, he could decide that he did not care, and give the final blow, Aku spoke again, "I hope that is of consolation as you live the rest of your life, never seeing your family again." He felt a pull at his foot, and looked down to see the black tendril holding on to him. Before he could do anything, it jerked him back, dragging him along the ground and straight into the mouth of the portal. The same portal that Aku sent him into so many years ago.

"Aaaakuuuu!" He screamed on last time, before once again going into the future.

"Fare thee well, Samurai. I hope my last curse brings you more pain than everything you have experienced before combined." And with these last words, the black demon closed his eyes, and slowly, the flames around his head went out. After a few seconds, even the black body seemed nothing more than a shadow.


	2. Chapter 2

The first time he went through this portal, The Samurai screamed in pain and fear. This time, he screamed in anger. How could he let Aku win yet again? All that time, all that work, all for nothing. He had to start over! He did not even know if the portal he used to return to the past was still there! What if it was gone since he already used it!? _No. Focus. All is not lost_. He told himself. He had to contain his anger. Think of something good. _At least I will not be as lost as I was the first time. I will know where I am, I will not be so confused._ This brought him some comfort as he saw the ending to the portal.

He landed calmly with his eyes closed, and stood up. He looked around and realized immediately that things were different. For one, he was in a city, but it was nothing like most of the cities in Aku's future. In this one, the sky was empty. Clear and blue similar to his homeland. There were no flying vehicles, there were odd vehicles that looked like carriages encased in metal, but they were self-propelled. There were tall buildings, but nothing like the towering structures that resembled the demon. He looked around at the people, and saw that there were only humans. No strange alien creatures that came here because of Aku's power lust. Also, no one looked frightened. It seemed as if they were all going about their own business quite calmly. Everything seemed very clean compared to how it was in Aku's future. It was so different, but he felt as if this was a good place. He had truly defeated the demon. With this realization, an astounding sense of peace came over him. Everything was perfect.

He was attracting a few curious looks from the passersby, but he was ignoring them until a short elderly lady walked up, "Excuse me young man, but are you lost?"

He thought for a moment before answering. During his travels, he had encountered many dangerous people who had attempted to take his life. Little old ladies included. "Yes…" He answered cautiously, not knowing what her intentions were.

She smiled kindly at him, "Well most people choose to change into their Kendo clothes after arriving at the Dojo, but to each his own. What is your Dojo called? Kyumeikan is only a block away, is that it?"

"Ummm. Yes. That is the one." He lied, smiling. He could not truly explain to this woman what had would only cause trouble.

"Oh, good. I'll walk you there so you won't get lost again."

"Thank you, ma'am." He was hoping he could just walk in the direction of the dojo she mentioned, and simply get away from her. But he had no such luck. She made small talk on the walk, her husband was a former Joujutsu practitioner, and an avid weapon user, but he was too old to practice actively. Although he still taught students whenever he could. Currently, he was helping instruct a group of girls as well as a Sumo Wrestler, and their Grand Daughter whenever she decided to drop by. She also liked his sword, and could tell that it was professionally made. _If only you knew._ He thought to himself with a slight smile. In only a few minutes, they arrived at the dojo.

He walked into the establishment and wanted to walk out as soon as the lady left, but almost immediately, he was noticed by one of the Dojo masters. "Hello there! You look like you are ready to train with us! Wow, you even brought a real Katana! Well, we do not use live steel here unless you have permission from our Hanshi, so for now, you will have to use a bamboo blade. What Dan are you?"

"Dan?" He asked confused, "My apologies, but I do not know what you mean."

"What? A beginner like you, and you come to a dojo with a real katana?" the man laughed, "Don't worry, we will straighten you out. By the way, what is your name? You may call me Kaziki."

Jack bowed low, "Greetings, Kaziki Kohai." He said respectfully before standing up.

"Ummm, that's Sempai." The man laughed politely. "You are the Kohai."

Jack lowered his head respectfully, "If you say so." He dropped the honorific for the time being. There was no reason to start a fight. "They call me Jack."

"Well Jack _Kohai,_ why don't we get you some the safety gear, and spar a few rounds to get a feel for how good you are. Just look at it like an entrance exam."

A few minutes later, Jack was completely dressed in an odd, soft armor, and a strange caged mask. He was extremely uncomfortable, and would much rather fight in his dougi as he was used to. But he would obey the dojo rules as of right now. He did not even want to be here, but it seemed as if he did not have a choice. Besides, it was only a sparring match. Friendly swordplay would be nice after all these years. Perhaps even relaxing. He was given a shinai; At least he was used to using one of these. However he was uncomfortable being separated from his katana. His opponent was Kaziki who was wearing the same armor, but his shinai was a little longer. Most people would not even notice, but this Samurai was certainly not most people. Jack frowned at the fact that one of the dojo masters was cheating against someone who he thought was a novice. Despite this, he said nothing.

They both stood in Saigin no Kame, a beginning kendo stance. Jack waited, waiting to defend. After several seconds, Kaziki lost his patience and lunged forward. The Samurai parried flawlessly, tripping his opponent, and setting the tip of his bamboo blade to his back. The man barred his teeth behind his mask, and swung around, Jack blocked it, but the man was ready and twisted his sword around, parrying. This went on for quite some time, but no matter what the man did; Jack always held the upper hand. There was nothing the man could do; Jack's form was beyond perfect. Finally, Kaziki gave up. "You lied!" he yelled. "You said that you did not know what Dan you were! But someone with your skill had to have trained at a dojo for a very long time! You are at least a 6 Dan!"

"No." a voice interrupted,

"Shihan!" Kaziki exclaimed.

"This man is higher than that. If I were to guess, he is at least a 9dan."

"At least? But that is the highest Dan there is." Kaziki was rather confused at his master's words.

"Formally, you would be correct. But there are still many things you don't know. One of which is how to recognize a true master." He practically spat at Kaziki who was now kneeling on the ground bowing to his teacher. This man comes in here, carrying a real katana, and you assume that he is a fool who knows nothing!?"

"But, Shihan, he said that he did not know what Dan he is! He claimed to have never been trained!"

"You fool! He truly does not know what Dan he is, because someone of his skill cannot be classified any skill level!" Then to Jack he said, "My deepest apologies, brother. My student is nothing but a fool who knows nothing of the world of masters." The man bowed deeply before continuing. "I am Ichirou Saga, a member of Yami's Armed Division. I assume that is why you are here?"


	3. Chapter 3

I decided that I wanted the older woman to be Danki Kugatachi's wife, so I edited the last chapter to avoid confusion. Instead of a Kendo champion, I said that he was a Joujutsu practitioner, and was currently teaching a group of girls and a sumo wrestler.

* * *

Jack was confused at the man's words. "Yami? My deepest apologies, but I do not know of this, 'Yami.'" He said apologetically. However, he was on edge now. The name made him extremely uncomfortable. What sort of people would name themselves "Darkness?" It was too much like Aku.

"What?" the man seemed confused, "How could a True Master such as yourself not know who we are?" He glanced around the room, before motioning for the Samurai to follow. "We should speak these things in private." He said leading the way into a back room. It was only when he was sure that they were alone, when he spoke again. "Speak honestly, no one else will know. Why are you here? Are you already a member of Yami, or are you an applicant?"

"I honestly do not have any knowledge of this organization you are speaking of." Jack said again. "I came here unintentionally."

"You are lying!" The man said angrily, "There is no way someone like you accidently found a major Yami recruiting station! You are a spy or something, and a rather bad one at that! Who do you work for? I heard tell of a group of Katsujinken Masters in Japan, hunting us down. I bet that you are one of them, aren't you?"

As soon as the man spoke of Katsujinken, Jack knew that this man was evil. He said the word with such hatred and despisement, there was no way he could be anything other than Satsujinken. "I know nothing of these people, however if you are an enemy of the path of life, then you are mine as well."

The man grinned, "Is that a fact?" Immediately, two blades slashed where his neck was a moment ago. Jack had just barely seen the man pull two long knives from his sleeves. There was no time for hesitation, in less than a second he went from what was becoming a heated conversation, to fighting for his life. He had dodged the first attack by a millimeter, but even so, his sword was already out. "You may be a master, but I am as well. There is no way I am going to let you leave here alive." The man attacked again, but this time Jack was prepared. Before the man knew what happened, his knives were lying in pieces on the ground. Jack stood tall with eyes closed as he placed his sword in its scabbard. The man was kneeling on the ground in shock, staring at his hands holding the handles to the now broken knives, just realizing what had happened. "H-how?"

Jack opened his eyes and looked at the man, "Those people you were speaking of before, the Katsujinken users, do you know how I can find them?"

"N-no! I don't! All I know is that they call themselves 'History's Strongest,' and base themselves somewhere in Japan!"

"Thank you for your cooperation." Jack said respectfully. "I hope to see you again soon. Hopefully by then you will be walking the path of life." He turned around and left the building without saying another word.

On his way out, he saw the old lady who led him there standing across the street. He walked over to her, ignoring the traffic and the honks of angry drivers. "Thank you ma'am, that dojo was most helpful."

She smiled up at him, "Of course young man, but you were not in there for very long. Did things not work out?"

"No, not quite. But I was hoping if you would be so kind as to help me find another."

"If I can. My husband would know more about it than I would." She chuckled. "But I will do what I can for you."

"You have my greatest thanks, miss." He bowed as deeply as he could in respect. Standing up, he continued, "I am looking for a dojo who's masters call themselves, 'History's Strongest"

"Hmmmmm." She woman hummed as she took her time thinking about his question. After several seconds, she answered, "Oh, I think I heard my husband talk about them a few times. Ryozanpaku. Yes, that's it! He is always complaining about them, although, if you ask me, he is just jealous." She winked slyly at him with the last comment. "I don't know where they are, but My husband might, and if he does not, then his students will. They are friends with Ryozanpaku's disciple."

"Ryozanpaku." Jack said slowly. He liked the name. "Place where the mighty gather." He smiled at this stroke of luck. Perhaps this lady was not so much a burden as he had originally thought.


	4. Chapter 4

So I added an O.C. Beowulf. I hav a little backstory for him that I am not going to go into, but essentially, he came into the story during Odin and Kenichi's fight, and got the name Beowulf as a sort of joke playing off of the Fists of Ragnarock, but it ended up sticking. He is a weapon user, so spends some time with Freya and the Valkyries, and sometimes Shigure will instruct him. If you guys want to know more, ask in the reviews and I will set some story time aside to give his story.

* * *

On the way to the lady's house, Jack said nothing, and politely listened to the lady's ramblings. For such an elderly woman, she seemed to have no trouble talking seemingly without taking a single breath. By the time they reached her home, the Samurai felt like he knew her entire biography, as well as the biographies of everyone she knew. As they approached the door, she stopped and turned around. "I am so sorry, young man, but I just realized that I forgot to introduce myself." Jack thought about it, and it was true. Of everything she told him about herself, her name was not one of them. "I am Suzume Kugatachi." She said, bowing slightly.

Jack smiled and returned the bow, "They call me, 'Jack.'" He answered.

"Jack?" She thought about the name before continuing, "That is an American name. Are you from America? Your Japanese is beautiful, almost nostalgic. Americans would not learn to speak it anywhere near as well. Where are you from?" She was looking at him strangely now, as if she knew something about him that he did not.

"I am from here." He replied. As far as he knew, the portal only transported him through time, not space. And he did remember seeing a temple that seemed to slightly resemble his home nearby.

"So your parents gave you an American name?" she asked curiously.

"No, Jack was the title given to me by others. It holds dear significance to me."

She nodded as if she knew what he was talking about, "Yes. Names are powerful, it is wise to keep your true name hidden, lest the people of this world who walk the path of darkness try to use it against you." This comment threw him off, but before he could reply, she immediately returned to the kind –if not senile- woman whom he had grown to like, and walked through the door. Pointing down the hallway, she said, my husband is in the dojo room, just follow the sound of sparring. I'll go get you some tea."

With that, she disappeared. Jack glanced around the room as he removed his sandals. It was very simple, and old. It felt good. It made him feel like he was in all the different places he grew up in, but all at once. He walked down the hallway she indicated, and soon he heard familiar sounds of yelling, punching, falling, and wood crashing against wood, just as Suzume said. He continued along, realizing that the house was much larger than it seemed. He had made several turns, and had even gone up, then back down two sets of stairs. He was walking for about fifteen minutes He was just about to admit that he was lost, when he opened the door to the sparring room.

It certainly was not what Jack was expecting. Suzume told him that her husband coached a group of girls, but he did not think that there would be so many of them. Including all of the oddly color coordinated girls, There was one other female, much taller than the rest and most likely the oldest, she also had short, spiked hair. There were also two boys, one was very large, and wore a sumo robe. Most of the girls were attacking him all at once. The other boy was an American wearing a dark green and black vest with matching pants, he was sparring with the oldest girl, who had a Bo Staff, while he had a Naginata. It the middle of it all, was an ancient man who looked as though he was sleeping. This was most likely Suzume's husband. He stepped into the room, and watched them all for a few moments, judging what kind of fighters they were. The group of girls, he could tell, were not very strong individually, but worked together better than any machine, with amazing strategies, utilizing all sorts of different weapons to their advantage. The Sumo Wrestler, did not seem to be using actual Sumo, but more like a practical form that he could use in any fight, not just in a Sumo Ring. The other girl and boy were evenly matched, The girl's staff techniques were highly advanced, and he even noticed a few moves from a sacred technique that he was taught during his travels. The boy with his Naginata was equally skilled, And Jack noticed that he did not even attempt to use the blade at all. It seemed like he was trying to avoid using it. This confused him seeing as how it would be simpler to use a training blade instead, that way they would not risk him harming the girl, and he would be able to fight effectively.

"He does not want to hurt his friend." A voice next to him came out of nowhere, startling him. Looking down in the direction of the voice, he saw the old man. Not very many people could get that close without him noticing. In fact, none that he had ever even met before. The older man smiled up at him blissfully.

"Yes, I see." Jack replied. "Are you Suzume's husband?" He asked.

"I should ask Suzume to make tea for you." He said thoughtfully.

Jack was taken aback. Not quite knowing how to respond, he continued slowly, "Suzume brought me here to talk to you."

"What? Another lost pet? No, we can't afford to take care of that woman's strays."

At this point, Jack was speechless. Thankfully, Suzume arrived with a tray of tea and snacks. "Ok, everyone! Time for a little break. Come get your tea." She set the tray down and started pouring several cups for everybody. At the sound of her voice, everyone dropped what they were doing and ran over to the woman. All of the girls except the senior one were chattering happily together. The three oldest, (the two boys and girl) all stood together talking quietly. They all had serious looks on their faces. Slowly, a hierarchy was being spread out before him. Those three were the most powerful and the leaders of this group, however they were not disciples here. Suzuki constantly referred to them as students, however the called the one who trained at Ryozanpaku a disciple. This meant that these kids were only training here as a favor from the old man, but they have leaders somewhere else. Possibly Ryozanpaku. After all, Suzuki said that they were friends with the Disciple. Interrupting his thoughts, Danki walked up to him, and held out a cup of tea, smiling.

"Thank you." Jack returned the smile and took the tea. Joining the group with Danki, and knelt down, and sipped at his tea.

"Have you asked about that place you were looking for?" Suzuki asked him once everyone settled down.

"No, I have not had the chance." He replied taking a sip of tea. "I am called Jack." He began. "I am looking for a certain Dojo in Japan, however I do not know where it is. Suzuki San said that some of you may know where it is." He addressed the group as a whole, Avoiding directly speaking to Danki as he thought the man was extremely senile.

The three oldest glanced at each other before the Sumo Wrestler spoke, "My friends call me Thor. This is Freya, and Beowulf." He referred to the girl and boy next to him. "What can you tell us about this Dojo you are looking for?"

"I know that it is called Ryozanpaku."

As soon as he spoke the word, he felt the atmosphere change. Before, the room felt friendly, if not a bit awkward. Now there was a distinct sense of fear. It was not coming from the elderly couple, or the three leaders. It was coming from every single one of the girls. "I apologize, is there something bad about that place?"

"Don't pay attention to the Valkyrie squad," Thor laughed.

"Yeah, they just had a bad run in with one of the Masters there once." The one called Beowulf continued. "Something about a rice spoon."

"Th-the Rice Spoon Monster…" one of the girls stuttered in fear. "I have never seen anything like it…."

"If you do not mind telling me," Jack asked, " what happened?" He could tell that they did not want to talk about it, and felt bad for asking, however if he ended up fighting these people it would be good to know what they could do.

"N-no. It is okay," another girl said. "It really was not that bad, just a shock and a little embarrassing."

"We were chasing this kid named Shirahama." A third girl continued. "Back then, we were part of a bad gang that recruited kids who had fighting talent. Shirahama was one of those kids, but he refused to join. One by one he took out entire Gang divisions by targeting their leaders. Eventually, Freya sent all of us after him, but Shirahama refused to fight us since we were girls. Because of this, he didn't stand a chance against us. At least until one of his masters showed up. It was a woman in a short, purple Kimono. She was going to use her sword against us, but Shirahama wouldn't let her. It was really weird, he kept yelling at us to run for our lives while they argued about what weapon she could use. We thought he was bluffing, especially when he agreed to let her use a rice spoon." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "She destroyed all of our weapons, and shredded our clothes with that wooden rice spoon. We never even stood the slightest chance against her."

"A wooden rice spoon?" Jack repeated. He had seen many masters use odd improvised weapons in fights, but never something so… random. And from the way they described it, it sounded like she used the spoon so she would not hurt them. There was definitely something he was missing. "You said that she shredded your clothes?"

"Yeah, what is it to you, ya pervert?" another girls answered snobbily.

"No, you misunderstand." He explained quickly. "I was wondering if she hurt you at all?"

"No she didn't. she never even brushed out skin." Yet another answered.

He thought about this for a minute. If she never touched the girls, then it would not matter what weapon she used. So what was the significance of the rice spoon? "Can any of you take me there?" he asked.

It was the one called Beowulf who answered. "Sure, I don't mind. I need to talk to Shirahama anyway. We can go whenever you want."


	5. Chapter 5

A few minutes later, Jack and the boy called Beowulf left the older couple's house. Jack was rather eager to leave and get away from the senile couple. As if the boy read Jack's mind, he said, "I'm sorry about those two. They act crazier than they are. I honestly think they just like to mess with people." He laughed.

"It is quite alright." Jack smiled in return. "In meeting you, I have achieved my goal."

"Mr. Danki knows where they are, but he didn't want to go there. He allies himself with them unofficially, but he hates how they flaunt their strength and call themselves, 'History's Strongest.'"

"What do you mean, 'allies himself?'" Jack asked. He knew that dojos often rivaled each other, but none even allied against another. However, the way the master of the other dojo acted, it seemed as though this went farther than just a rivalry.

The kid gave him a weird look, "You mean that you don't know about Yami?" There was that name again, it left a bad feeling in his head. And the only person he met who was affiliated with them was a follower of the path of death. Nothing good could come from them.

"No, I have only heard their name once. And the man who spoke it tried to kill me."

"So you took on a Yami Master, huh? I figured that you were a master yourself by the way Mr. Danki was treating you. Normally he does not offer tea to anyone he does not at least consider to be an equal. It is kind of unusual, but he gets away with it because everyone thinks that he is crazy." Realizing that he never answered the Samurai's question, Beowulf continued, "But anyway, yeah. Yami. They are something else. I honestly don't know that much about them, But I'll tell you what I can. You probably know that the World of Martial Arts is completely different from what most people see every day. You also probably know that it is split between Katsujinken and Satsujinken. The Fist of Life, and the Fist of killing. Yami is an international organization that is devoted to Satsujinken. I also know that they control many governments, and was established shortly after World War II, when a lot of true masters were killed. The only other thing I really know, is that the phrase, 'The Eternal Setting Sun' is often spoken in conversations about them. I don't know what it means, but the only time I have ever seen Mr. Danki truly concerned about anything, is when he spoke about it."

The samurai stopped dead in his tracks at Beowulf's words. "The- the eternal setting sun?" he whispered.

"You know about it!? Do you know what it means!?" the boy asked excitedly.

"I-I Have heard it once before." He confessed. A shiver of fear ran through him, as he thought about it. "I think I will wait to speak of it for now." He said slowly. He could be wrong. It could just be a coincidence, and he did not want to worry himself over nothing.

"Ok, that's fine." Beowulf said slightly disappointed. "But back toyour question, Danki is a follower of the fist of life, as well as the Ryozanpaku masters. He does not really like them, but he does not mind helping them once in a while. Don't tell anyone, but I know that Mr. Danki secretly took down an entire Yami faction by himself a week ago after they kidnapped him and his granddaughter. You saw her at the dojo, she was the girl I was sparring with."

"I wanted to ask you about that," Jack said momentarily distracted. "Why were you using a real blade against her? For students, that is highly unusual."

"Yeah. It is Mr. Danki's Idea. I think that the point is to teach me control. If I fight against her with a live blade, I will be focusing on not harming her, while still defending myself. So when I am in a real fight, I will be able to use my blade without hurting my opponent unnecessarily." He answered thoughtfully. "But then again, he could just be as crazy as he pretends to be. Either way, both Frey and I get really good training out of it." He winked jokingly when he saw the Samurai's surprised look. "Just kidding, Mr. Danki is a genius at teaching, no matter what your field is. He can see your strength and weakness, and show you how to improve. That is what he does for Thor. That guy does not even use weapons, but Mr. Danki teaches him anyway. And very effectively as well. He has grown exponentially since he started training there. You may not think that is really unsurprising, but Thor invented his own Martial Art all by himself, and Mr. Danki was still able to teach him, and show him how to improve."

Jack thought about what the boy was saying, it seemed that there was a lot to the senile old man. He would like to talk to him some more, and try to see past the fake front.

They continued talking for some time during the trip to Ryozanpaku. It took them a few hours, but eventually, they arrived at a large gateway that to most people would look intimidating. To the Samurai, it reminded him of home. Beowulf placed one hand in the center of the double doors, and with one great effort, pushed the doors wide open. He looked over his shoulder at Jack, "these doors are weird. I have been coming here for months, but it is only the past three weeks that I have been able to open these doors by myself at all." As he walked in, Beowulf turned back around, "Oh, I'm sorry I almost forgot. Shigure has a really weird habit of-"

He was cut short by a chain flying through the air, wrapping around Jack. But his sword was already out, and the links cut themselves as they tightened around his body. But instantly, dozens of shuriken were flying toward him at full speed. His sword was like a whip knocking them all side effortlessly. But that was not enough for this unseen attacker. Another chain swung toward his legs, which he easily jumped over, but another was coming toward his torso. He barely twisted out of the way in time, but the kamma on the end tore at his dougi, leaving his chest bare. The Samurai landed on his fists, and kicked another chain out of the way before his feet touched the ground. In the corner of his eye, a purple blur flashed toward him. Still standing on his hands, he twisted his hips, and threw his legs in a circle. Using the momentum, he spun his whole body sideways in midair into a corkscrew kick. His body spun in a blur, ready for impact, but his opponent stopped in their tracks. He landed on the ground on all fours, his body straight, so only his hands and toes touched the ground. As soon as he stopped moving, the figure leapt at him again, still behind him. He kicked his legs up, and rolled forwards onto his back. His sword was still in his hands, and he sliced through the air upwards, making solid contact with another blade.

During the pause, he lifted his eyes to finally look at his opponent. Much to his surprise, he was looking at one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. "Hey, Ms. Shigure!" Beowulf yelled from the side. A shorter, brown-haired boy was standing next to him, looking equally frightened and frustrated. "He is a friend; I brought him here to talk to you and the other masters."

_So this is a master of Ryozanpaku._


	6. Chapter 6

"Where did you get that sword?" The woman named Shigure asked him slowly, void of emotion.

He hesitated before answering, he still did not know much about these people, but decided that he felt they were trustworthy. He stood up and sheathed his sword, eyes closed. "It belonged to my father." Turning toward her, he bowed. "They call me Jack. I wish to speak to the masters of Ryozanpaku."

"What is this? A visitor?" Another voice spoke from a nearby building. "Miu, please go make some tea for our guests." Jack turned to see a man wearing a jujitsu dougi. He had black hair and a thin mustache. "Hello, Beowulf, who is your friends here?"

"Hey, Mr. Akisame!" The boy said happily, "This is Jack; he was looking for this place, and ended up at Mr. Danki's house."

"Is that so? How interesting." The man looked over at Jack, "A Samurai called, 'Jack?' I think there is something more to you than you let on." He smiled, "I am Akisame Koetsuji, the Jujitsu Master here. You have already met Shigure Kosaka, The Weapons Master."

Jack looked sidelong at the woman. "Yes, she… introduced herself."

The man laughed, "My apologies, but Shigure always does that to new visitors."

"He is a Master." The woman spoke again, with that same emotionless, slow voice. "Like us."

"Is that so? Well please come with me, Jack San."

"Please," The Samurai answered, following the man into the building. "Call me Jack."

"Of course, Jack." He answered dropping the honorific as requested. "Miu will be here in a few minutes with the tea, Kenichi, will you go get the other masters please?"

The boy that was standing with Beowulf before spoke up, "Yes, Master Akisame." He ran off to look for everyone else.

"That is our disciple, Kenichi Shirahama."

"He is your disciple? I do not sense any fighting spirit come from him."

"That's for sure." Beowulf laughed. "He would much rather take care of his garden." He was sitting relaxed in the corner with Shigure hanging above him. Jack and Akisame were kneeling in the center of the room.

"Very true. He hates fighting." Akisame agreed.

"Then why is he here?" Jack asked, confused.

"'So he can fight the injustice in the world that others pretend no to see.' That is what he would say anyway." Akisame replied. "He wants to protect the people he loves."

Jack nodded thoughtfully. The boy's intentions were good, too often people were sucked into the ideology of fighting for the sake of fighting, and they simply like how it feels. IT was always refreshing to see someone who had pure motivation. He himself often let his heart get clouded by hatred. He hoped that would not happen to this boy.

"But enough about our disciple. Tell us about yourself, Jack the Samurai."

He took a deep breath. "I come from a very distant land. I spent my entire life preparing for something. A few years ago, I had almost completed it, but was delayed by being cast from my land. It was only until today that I actually completed my mission. But I was cast away yet again just as I completed my purpose. This time, I fear there is no returning."

"May I see your sword?" Akisame asked. "I understand that is rather personal; however I would like to see something." Jack hesitated for some time, before slowly and reluctantly handing over his sword. The man took it and closely examined every part of it, as if he were reading a book. He spent several minutes studying it, no part was left unchecked, not even the inside of the scabbard. During this time, the other Masters showed up, and took their seats around the room. Jack was slightly surprised by the diversity of their appearances, but it did not concern him. He had seen much stranger people during his travels. Also, a young blond girl showed up and set out tea, but left immediately thereafter.

Finally, Akisame returned the sword. "It is just as I thought." He said. "Beowulf. Please leave us alone for some time. This is a Masters' meeting." The boy sighed and stood up, taking his Naginata from Shigure who had taken it at some point.

"I hate it when you guys get so secretive." He walked out of the room, "I needed to talk to Shirahama anyway."

Once the boy left, Akisame looked back at the Samurai. "Before we continue, Let us introduce ourselves properly. I am Akisame Koetsuji, The Philosophical Jujitsu Master."

Then the tall muscular man with the scar across his face spoke, "I 'm Sakaki Shio, The 100th Dan Street fighter." He smiled sinisterly.

Then the equally tall Thai man spoke, "Apachai's name is Apachai Hopachai, The Shinigami of Muay Thai Underworld! What happened to the man's shirt?" He exclaimed as eager as a child introducing themselves to a new friend, only adding the last part almost as if he was not keeping the two sentences separated. But everyone ignored him, and continued with the introductions

Next was Shigure, "Shigure Kosaka, The Prodigy of Swords and Master of all Weaponry." She spoke still emotionless, and her voice as slow as molasses.

Then there was a short Chinese man in green, "Kensai Ma, The Master of All Chinese Kenpo." He was rather distracted, speaking while trying to take a picture of Shigure without being noticed.

Lastly, was the tallest man with long blond hair and beard. He also looked to be the oldest. "I am called Hayato Furinji, The invincible Superman." He laughed proudly. "I am the Elder of this place."

Jack bowed in respect for his equals, "I am Jack the Samurai." He paused for a moment, he never thought much about his Title of Mastery, but he never had time for one. Traditionally, it was a title given either b one's master, or something that others chose to call you based off one's most prominent abilities. Finally he finished, "The Protector and Slayer." He thought that it fit him well. It spoke nothing of his talents, but volumes of who he was as a Samurai.

"It is good to meet another master of Katsujinken. It is our honor." The Elder said.

"Now if you do not mind," Akisame continued, "Tell us everything you know about the Eternal Setting Sun." Instantly, all of the Masters' Ki sifted toward him. He could feel the pressure, none of them were expecting that, and were startled by it.

"I have only heard it spoken once in reference to two events." He answered uncertainly. "Both times, a great evil arose and took over the land, and both times it was defeated. The first time was by an emperor and a magic sword. The second time was for several years, but he was defeated again by the emperor's son with the same sword. The phrase refers to the rising of the demon, Aku. That is all I know." He looked to the ground, not wanting to speak of the evil thing any longer.

"That is all correct." Akisame affirmed. "But there is more to the story. A very vital piece." Jack looked at the man in confusion. _How could there be more? It was his own story; shouldn't he know all of it?_ "Do you know anything about the organization called, 'Yami?'?"

Jack took a breath in shock. His fears were coming true. "A little. But not much."

Akisame continued, "When the son defeated the demon, he disappeared. No one ever saw him or the sword again. However, the demon's body remained. It was little more than a shadow, but enough was left to be tangible and moved. Though it was not alive, it still had power, and was used throughout the world for the past few thousand years as a tool for evil. Many men have possessed it, and every one rose to great power. The body took on many forms and many names, possibly the most famous being 'The Spear of Destiny.' Some say that The Spear was wielded by a roman soldier who used it to pierce the heart of the western God, Jesus. However there is another rumor that says the spear was only able to pierce his heart due to the great evil it already contained. The soldier was given the Spear by the current emperor who wanted to be sure of the God's death. Several years later, it was rumored to have been used by the Nazi army during WWII as a tool to cause destruction. It is our belief, that when Hitler died, someone else took the 'spear' and used it to found Yami. Using what we already know about the Spear's true origins and the phrase, we think that they plan on finding out how to resurrect the demon, and have it cause another war."


	7. Chapter 7

"What kind of war?" Jack asked nervously.  
This time, the Elder answered, "One that would involve the whole world."

"But why? What would be the point?"

"They believe that during times of peace, Martial Arts rots away, and does not progress. So they need a war to help different styles develop and evolve." Sakaki said with more than a little anger. "Those punks don't realize that a true martial artist is always evolving in preparation for battle. You don't need a war in order to become better. You just need to know that one is coming."

"So in order for these people to start a war involving the entire world, they are prepared to bring the most evil thing this planet has ever seen back to life?" Jack asked astonished, "How can they be so foolish!?"

"You sound like you know something about the demon." Akisame said with a sly smile. And I noticed an interesting design on the hilt of your sword." Jack looked down and saw the symbol Akisame spoke about. It was his family's crest. A square with a short line intersecting each side.

"What of it?" he asked feigning ignorance. He very well knew how people reacted to him claiming to travel through time. Most thought that he was crazy, and others thought he was making it up.

"That is the same sword used by the emperor and his son to slay the Demon." He replied. "You called yourself the Protector And Slayer. What do you Protect, and what did you Slay?"

The Samurai closed his eyes, and bowed his head, "What the story you told does not include, is that the Emperor's son fought the demon many times before finally defeating it. The first time, The son came close to killing it. But in a desperate act, the demon, Aku opened a portal through time and sent the man several thousand years into the future, where Aku ruled not just this planet, but many others scattered throughout space. They fought several times then, but the man's goal was to find a way back to his past so that he could stop that version of the future from taking place. He spent many years searching, and discovered many ways he could accomplish this goal, however every single time, he had to sacrifice it for someone else. Until finally, he found another portal that was able to send him back to the moment that Aku sent him into the future. He took this opportunity and defeated the demon for good. However the portal that Aku opened originally was still open, and a moment before he died, Aku pushed him back through." He opened his eyes, and looked up to the group. "This is why the man disappeared as you said."

"Beowulf," Kensai spoke, "You studied this sort of thing when you went to college, didn't you?"

One of the floor panels lifted up, and three kids climbed out. Kenichi, the girl called Miu, and Beowulf. He figured that at least Beowulf would be eves dropping, but he was not surprised to see all of them.

"Well, I fell out before I had a chance to really learn anything," He answered with a tone that sounded like he did not care that they got caught. "But what Jack is saying sounds more metaphysical than quantumphisical… If that is even a word… But anyway, if you believe in magic, and supernatural powers, than anything is possible I suppose, but the question would be whether or not what he is saying is true."

"Why do you use words that are so confusing, Galen Kun?" Apachai asked with an odd, sad tone. At least Jack knew the boy's real name now.

Ignoring him yet again, Beowulf continued, "Of course assuming you are telling the truth, you never actually changed anything, you know." The boy looked at Jack.

"What do you mean? I saw the world when Aku ruled, it is much different than this. As well as the fact that you all admit that he is dead now. He was alive in the other future."

"Yes. That is true. However according to your story, Time travel is not only possible, but there is more than one future. This means that there is another world in that Aku still rules. And another that you beat him in the first fight. And another in which you never make it back from the future. And another in that he killed you the first time you two met. I could go on, but I think you understand what I am saying. This is merely one of an infinite number of existences limited only by the scenarios we can come up with. You have not done anything other than lived through the natural course of this existence." By now, Beowulf was laying down in the same corner as earlier.

"What?" Jack had never heard this before. "But that would mean that this is all for nothing. Somewhere, Aku still lives, and is causing chaos." He said this slowly, and defeated.

"No. You cannot help what is beyond your power." Beowulf replied lightheartedly. "Let God worry about that. The important part is that you have made this world a better place for everyone. I am sure that the people you helped while in the other future are more than grateful. As long as you live, and protect the innocent from evil, you have not failed." He looked over at the other boy, "Hey Kenichi. What is the only fight you lose?"

"The one in which you die." He answered with conviction.

"So are you dead? In body or in spirit?" Beowulf smiled at him, "Your body is here, heart beating. But I cannot tell you about your own spirit." His eyes glanced around the room, "Well I'm done pretending to be a master. Go ahead." He pretended to give the Masters his permission to continue, although he knew that they were the ones who allowed him to speak. He lay his head down and closed his eyes, content to listen for the rest of the time.

"So are you alive? Or are you dead?" The elder asked, his face a huge grin with one eye open.

Jack thought about all that the boy said. He remembered all the friends he had made during his travels. The Canines, the Woolies, the Scientists, the three Archers, his dear friend The Scotsman, the Pixy, and more. He would not have given up his memories and time with them for anything. And on top of that, he _had_ defeated Aku in the end. And if what the boy said was true, somewhere out there, he was still helping people from the demon's tyranny. After several minutes he answered, "I am alive. And I will not let Aku return."

"I think he's a nutjob." Sakaki interjected. "But at least we have another master on our side."

"I think that there may be some truth to what he is saying. And make no mistake about it, that is the sword that slew the demon." Sakaki commented.

"He is a powerful master" Shigure said. "At least my equal, If not more skilled."

"Apachai likes the shirtless man, but Apachai still wants to know where the man's shirt is." The giant bronze man huffed.

"Hmmmm. Another master is always good. Especially when fighting against Yami." The Chinese man in green spoke up.

"Then it is decided!" The master yelled, clapping his hands on his knees. The Master Samurai named Jack will join us here at Ryozanpaku under the conditions shared between all the masters here. He shall also take up the Master Title, The Master of Ten Thousand Arts."

* * *

Author's Note: Thoughts on his title?

Also, it has been pointed out top me that most people need every single reference explained to them. I am not going to do that. but I will give you these:

watch?v=Svkj_e_uh-8

watch?v=dW388fVt_14

watch?v=ZtLqgykPci4

watch?v=bmkxsQnNujI

watch?NR=1&v=c4ERowwKMNI&feature=fvwp


	8. Chapter 8

An odd scene. not much use except for relationship development. I decided that starting with this chapter, I am going to answer all questions at the END OF THE NEXT CHAPTER. So any questions you have about this chapter and want answered for everyone to read, will be posted at the end of the next one. And PLEASE do not ask questions about in-universe references. I assume that everyone knows as much about these stories than I do. I also do a lot of "research" while I write them. So if you ask me a question about something I reference, I am going to sent you a link to a place where you can watch all the episodes , or read all the chapters of Samurai Jack or HSDK as the case may be, and let you figure it out for yourself. I hate to sound rude, but I am REALLY TIRED of multiple people asking me stupid questions about things that happened in the FIRST BLOODY EPISODE of either show. It is not just one or two people, it is lots. This means that if you found this Fic because you were looking for either Samurai Jack or History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, and you know nothing about the other one, then this is not the fic for you. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to explain everything for everyone.

Ok. I'm done being mean now. :) I am a nice person, believe it or not.

* * *

It had been several hours since the master's meeting, and Jack was rather confused on what had happened. It seemed that these people had all accepted him without question, and had believed his story despite its impossibility. It made no sense, but given the fact that he felt as though they could be trusted, it did not bother him.

The Chinese man named, Kensei, had shown him to his room, and now he was sitting quietly in meditation. It was a nice room, about ten feet by ten feet and completely empty. He was content with this, and would -more likely than not- leave it that way. Besides, he had much more important things to worry about than decorating his room.

First of all, was the threat of Aku. He thought that he had finally seen the last of the vile demon, only to have his peace stolen. Even in his death, Aku was still spreading his evil. And to make matters worse, there were foolish people who actually wanted to resurrect his body! How stupid could they be? They knew nothing of the future where the vile creature's evil was the law. He needed to stop them, and prevent another era like the one he had changed. But from what the other Masters were saying, they were all top class fighters, possibly as good as he was.

The Samurai was by no means a prideful man; however he knew that he was trained specifically to be the world's greatest Martial Artist. And he spent nearly every day of his time in the future proving that he was. And all his training, was not including the several hundred arts he learned from other planets, and evolved forms of earth's martial arts in the future. On top of all that, he had a magic sword forged by gods. All of that was to say that he was facing a threat possibly greater than Aku. At least Aku had no actual combative skill. He relied on invincibility, but with the magic Sword, he was easily defeated, and was nearly powerless. These people -though not invincible- at least knew how to fight. Ironically, this made them more dangerous to Jack than the demon.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Excuse me, Jack San," the blond girl's face peeked through the door frame. "Dinner is ready downstairs. I'm Miu by the way. The Elder is my Grandpa." She gave a cute grin as she introduced herself, causing the Samurai to not be able to resist smiling in return.

"Yes, Hayato San told me of you. I look forward to the meal." He stood up, and followed her to the dining room where the rest of the occupants who lived at Ryozanpaku were beginning to gather. They all greeted each other and spoke about the day's training as they sat down. The elder sat at the head with Miu on his right and Kenichi next to her, then Apachai and Kensei. On the other side, Akisame sat next to the Elder, then Akisame, Sakaki, Shigure, and Jack.

For most of the meal, Jack sat in silence listening to the conversations, until Sakaki spoke up, "Wow, Look at Shigure! I don't think I've seen her this happy since Kenichi decided to move in! Looks like she likes you, Jack!" he laughed loudly as Jack glanced over at the woman next to him. Just like before, she was completely expressionless, and her eyes seemed almost dead as she continued to eat as if nothing was said about her.

"It's true," Kensei commented. "It seems that the more people are here, the happier she is." Her arm a blur, she whipped her hand underneath the table. Jack was rather confused, until Kensei frowned, and set a camera with a chopstick sticking out of a now shattered lens on the table. "Now don't be like that, I just fixed it." She pulled the stick out, and resumed eating.

"Then you can fix it again." Jack looked at her strangely for a moment. Everyone else here seemed straight forward. Sakaki reminded him a lot of his friend, The Scotsman; While Apachai was very innocent and child-like despite his obvious power. Akisame was a meek person who was very intelligent and calm. Kensei was obviously a letcher who did not know where to draw the line. The Elder seemed more fun loving than anything, but radiated with a strength Jack had never seen before. The girl, Miu, he could tell had a hidden strength that she probably did not even know about, but was very carefree and kind. Kenichi obviously did not fit in here. He was not like these people, he had a completely harmless spirit. However Jack knew that people like him were the most formidable fighters given the right motivation. Shigure on the other hand, he could not quite place. She seemed to be extremely quiet and antisocial, but the rest of them seemed to agree that she liked more people around. Although he had no idea how they could tell that she was so happy, she seemed void of expression and feeling. However they had known her for much longer, and he was sure that she was giving off signs that he did not know about. Even so, she was very strange. He wanted to think about it more, but the feeling reminded him again of Ikra. Although he knew that to be an extreme event, he never could quite trust women the same afterwards.

"What is wrong, Jack?" the Elder asked, "You look as though you lost someone." Of course he lost someone, he was at least two thousand years in either direction from anyone he knew. But he knew that was not what the man was asking.

"It is Shigure San." He said glancing at her. "You make me think of somebody that I used to know."

"Oh, another lady huh?" Sakaki teased, "Did you like her?"

"I thought I did at one point." He continued eating, not letting the conversation bother him. It was odd, having people who talked so freely with him. It was a new experience. Although he had spent time with many people, he never spent more than a few days, to one or two weeks with them. But now he would be living here permanently, and seeing these people every day for the rest of his foreseeable future. He needed to get used to telling personal stories. "Her name was Ikra. She deceived me into thinking she was a friend. We traveled together for quite some time. Finally, when I found what I was looking for, she betrayed me and destroyed it." He left out the part that she turned out to be Aku in disguise. He was not quite sure about how they each felt about his story, and thought it best not to constantly point it out for the time being.

"And Shigure reminds you of her?" Kenichi asked confused.

"No, not like that." He clarified. "Just makes me think of. It is… complicated. However I do not mean that you are untrustworthy." The last part was directed at Shigure, more of an apology for how what he said sounded, than anything else.

"Was she pretty?" Kensei asked.

"In her own way, but it was only skin deep. Although she was quite the actor."

"Well in any case, I think Shigure is more interested in your swordplay than anything else." Akisame chuckled. "She is the only weapon user here, so it will be nice for her to have a Samurai around. Perhaps we will all see a bit of your technique tomorrow. Would you mind help teaching our disciple?"

Jack looked over at Kenichi. He had taught people how to fight before, but a disciple was something else entirely. Having a True Disciple meant having a successor to all of your knowledge. For a Samurai, teaching a Disciple went much farther than Martial Arts. It was an ideology, a way of life. Not only was he unsure of whether he was ready or not, but the boy as well. After some thought, he decided neutrally, "I will spend some time with him tomorrow. I will decide after that."

They continued with more light hearted conversation after that. A little more teasing from Ma, Sakaki, and a few confusing comments from Apachai. Shigure and the Samurai mirrored each other as they finished eating. Both were silent, poised, calm, and content. Perhaps the only difference in how they acted, was that Jack smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

So I'm a little sad. someone broke my review rule. I must say, I agreed with what they had to say, but all that they said was bad things about the story, with no improves. it was all just about how horrible the story was. I don't have a problem with people not liking this story, but if you are going to write a review about how much you hate it, please include what you would change in particular. because like i said, I agreed with a lot of what they had to say about the story, but I have tried to come up with ways to make those parts better, and I couldn't. So come on, help me out a little here.

This chapter is really out of character for Jack, he does not ever do this in the series, but I thought that it fit him, and mixed into the HSDK universe quite well. also, I chose his Ki type based off of how he fights in the series. there are several points where he shows both Dou and Sei attributes, but his entire demeanor did not really fit either in my opinion. So that is why I twisted the universe rules a little for him, besides I think that you could say the same about Hyato, but whatever. Also, I did not write it in, but Shigure volunteered to wake Jack up.

* * *

Jack slept peacefully that night, content with sitting down legs crossed, with his sword held upright against his body. Most people would have thought it awkward, but the samurai was so used to it, than he would have felt uncomfortable any other way.

He was woken up the next morning to a face a few inches away staring at him. He blinked a few times in confusion before realizing that the face was upside down, and a few more blinks before realizing that it was Shigure. This would explain why he did not wake up earlier, there was no killing intent. If it was someone who wanted to sneak up on him, then he would have woken up when she was several meters away. "Good morning." He said with a straight voice.

"Miu said that breakfast is ready. You should come down soon." Her voice was emotionless as always, but he was already getting used to it.

"Thank you." He said kindly, as he stood up. He did not pay attention to how she was holding herself upside down before, but now he noticed that she gripped the thin wooden beams holding the ceiling panels with her toes. He expected her to stand on the ground before walking out of the room, but she remained in the same position and seemingly walked upside down out the door. He found this interesting, and wondered what her purpose was. "I was meaning to ask you something, if you do not mind." He said to her, following her down the hallway.

She stopped and twisted her face to look up at him. "What is it?" she almost sounded annoyed, but he did not think she intended to come across that way. It was her expressionless demeanor that gave the wrong feeling, he reasoned.

"I was told a story about you by a group of young ladies, I was merely wondering about one of the details. I was told that you defeated them all with nothing but a rice spoon."

"Yes. Them. Kenichi was late for the dinner I made because they were stopping him from coming back to the Dojo. So I went to go get him."

"My question was why did you use a rice spoon? I knew from how the girls described you, that you were skilled enough to use any weapon you chose and not harm them at all."

"Kenichi was worried that I would hurt them. It was the only thing I had that he was comfortable with me using."

"The disciple needs more faith in his masters."

She made a noise at his comment that confused him more than anything. It was like a soft-but-sharp breath, and although she did not smile, he thought there was a slight glimmer in her eyes. Eventually, he decided it was a laugh. The conversation stopped there, and they finished the walk through the Dojo grounds to the dining room. They all sat in the same arrangement as the night before, and the meal was much shorter. When they were finished, the Elder spoke. "Jack San, now would be a good time to spend with Kenichi. He does not have school today, so you can take as long as you would like with him."

He bowed his head gratefully, "It is an honor to be allowed to train your disciple." He answered before standing up. He looked at the boy, who was already on his feet, and ready for whatever the Samurai had in store.

"Wow, you sure are excited today," Miu teased him. "Happy to get away from your normal training schedule?"

"Yes I am! Nothing can be worse than the regular routine!" he smiled happily, not noticing his masters' obviously hurt feelings. They made their way into the courtyard, where jack sat down in his regular position in the grass underneath a tree. Motioning for Kenichi to sit across from him, the boy obeyed immediately.

"This is not training." Jack had his eyes closed as he spoke to the boy. "I am only going to assess your abilities to see if I should train you."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Relax. Close your eyes. Breathe. Expand your Ki, and feel your surroundings. Sense the Ki of others, feel their power. Feel the power of the earth. Feel the calmness of nature." When he finished speaking, they were plunged into silence. Slowly, the samurai started to take shallow breaths, calming his spirit, and controlling his Ki. The next few minutes, he built his Ki up and released it in a sudden explosion. His Ki enveloped the boy and explored his spirit.

* * *

"That's something I've never seen before." The Elder spoke while licking a big, round, spiral lollypop.

"What? What's going on?" Miu asked worriedly, I don't get what he's doing. Aren't they just meditating?" she had lots of experience with that, but she did not have near the skill to sense or see what the other masters did.

"Yes. That is quite unique." Akisame agreed. "He is using his Ki to feel Kenichi's Ki. But this way, he is reading Kenichi very much like an open book. His strengths, weaknesses, emotions, and more."

"Is that even possible?" Miu asked.

"Apparently. And it makes very much sense. There are two types of Ki, Dou and Sei. However, every individual's Ki is unique to them. And on top of that, it changes and grows with them. Masters are used to sensing our opponent's Ki to judge how strong they are, but this is several levels above that. He is doing more than judging power; he is assessing Kenichi's entire fighting ability. Although, I do not think that it is something he can use at any time. It seems like it takes a massive amount of his own Ki, and a lot of time. I doubt he does this often."

"But that is not all you were talking about, was it, Hayato?" Sakaki commented

"No, it is his Ki itself." The Elder agreed.

"Yeah! Apachai feels him! He is not normal!"

"What do you guys mean? What is wrong with his Ki?" Miu was becoming more and more frustrated by the second. The more they answered her questions, the more she had.

"It is neither Dou nor Sei." Shigure answered. "He has his own classification."

"Yes, it may even be the reason he can do this." Akisame interjected.

"What makes his Ki different then?" Miu asked

"A Dou type martial artist uses their anger to exceed the limits. As such, they tend to be aggressive in combat, and rarely stray from the offensive. While a Sei type martial artist hides their intention to fight, instead focusing on sensing their environment, then releases it quickly in response to danger." Sakaki explained, "What makes our Samurai different, is that he does not internalize his Ki, or push it out. It seems that he merely lets it flow through him. This gives him attributes from both Dou and Sei, but only a master would know that it is a third type of Ki. But it is nothing that any of us have ever even heard of before. It is like he does not have Ki, just a mass of energy in the same spot as his body."

"Just another reason you like him, isn't that right, Shigure?" Ma teased her while taking pictures. Without looking down, she stomped on his face. However when the others looked at her, she jumped on top of the roof, getting away from them. But she still watched the Samurai, and secretly enjoyed the feeling of his unique Ki.

* * *

After approximately an hour, Jack opened his eyes, and stood up. "I am impressed. That was much better than I thought it would be." He admitted. Looking down at the boy, he was shocked to find a pale figure curled up lying on his side. "What!? Are you O.K.!?" he quickly knelt down next to the boy and checked his pulse.

"I'm ok… really." Kenichi said in a sing-song voice that sounded anything but convincing.

"KENICHI!" Miu squealed in worry, "Are you alright!? What happened!?" she knelt at his head, and pulled him into her lap as she spoke, stroking his hair.

Akisame answered, walking up. "Oh, he will be fine. He is just in shock from a prolonged Ki attack."

"WHAT!?" she yelled.

"Well what do you expect?" Sakaki grunted, "He passes out from our Ki attacks that only last a few seconds. And he just spent an hour completely enveloped in a master's Ki."

"So what did you think?" Kensei asked Jack. "Not what you were expecting was it?"

"No, not at all." He admitted. "I think that he is the most worthy person I have ever met to inherit the way of the Samurai. He is not suited for Martial Arts, but that is no secret. What is strange, is that even with his ineptitude, he has incredible potential. I have never seen such a paradox. I am also impressed with his devotion to morality. I barely sensed any darkness in him at all. And those I did find, had acceptable triggers. He grows slowly, but he is much stronger because of it."

"I think that he would greatly benefit from your instruction, Jack San." The Elder hinted, foregoing all subtly.

"He is the most deserving person I have met to be my first Disciple." Jack agreed. Looking down, he noticed that the boy regained quite a bit of color, and seemed to be sleeping, rather than knocked out. "Good. I was a little worried."

"Don't worry, he won't die on you that easily." Sakaki laughed.

"Yes, he would have been dead long ago if something like that could kill him." Kensei added.

"It is good to see masters that know how to raise their disciples." Jack smiled. Good Masters were extremely rare in Aku's future. He was relieved to know that it was not a similarity this future shared.

"Yes. He is very fortunate!" Elder laughed.

"Yes, very lucky!" Apachai yelled happily, "Apachai makes sure Kenichi is tough and strong! We spar all the time!"

"Yes, I am sure that he benefits most form your training." Jack smiled with a slight chuckle.

* * *

So No one had any questions or comments like they normally do, other than the hate review I got. I will not relay everything it said, but I will mention one thing. Yes, I know that the whole "every choice makes a new universe" theory is over used and quite frankly stupid, however, that is not what I wrote in. One of Quantum physics most respected multiple universe theories, goes off of the idea that each universe is similar but has subtle differences. these differences CAN BE CAUSED BY PEOPLE MAKING DIFFERENT CHOICES. However, that is not the defining factor that makes them different. there has to be a reason people made different choices in a separate universe than they did in our universe. This is a practical application of the butterfly effect. Technically, there is only ONE difference in each universe, that is traced back to the point of origin of when the universe was created. that ONE difference changes things along the way making time play out differently than in did in another universe. everything is based off of cause and effect with only one actual difference. so it is not the choices we make that cause different universes, but the different universes cause the choices we make. Also, as a side note, I never said in the story that the choices Jack made affected the timeline. I thought I was very clear on that, but I guess I wasn't. Either that, or the person was not paying attention to what they were reading. On another side note, I hate the spear of destiny reference I made. I really do. I hate that entire part. it is convoluted, inconsistent, twisted, and forced. If any of you have a suggestion on how to make that part better, while still using Aku's corpse as a main part of the story line, please tell me. I cannot think of anything.


	10. Chapter 10

"While we wait for Ken Chan wake up, why don't you tell us what you did, Jack San." The Elder asked curiously. "None of us have seen that technique before."

"It was something I taught myself while studying with the Shaolin Monks. We spent much time in meditation, learning how to build and release our Ki. I learned how to control my Ki far faster than anyone else, and was already able to sense who someone was at the time others just started to release their Ki." He explained, "The Shi Tai Ye of the temple said that I was different than the other students, and showed me that unlike others who have their own Ki, I draw my Ki from Nature. It was why I was always able to adapt so quickly, fight much longer, and always more adept to use my Ki."

"But would that mean that your Ki is unlimited?" Sakaki asked

"No, far from it. In fact, if I do not take the time to build it up, I have far less Ki than most Martial Artists of lower classes. It takes more time to let it build and gather. However, I can build my Ki while I fight, unlike others, and it takes less to fight. It also is almost undetectable by most Masters, as it is the Ki of the Earth, and not of any human."

"Unless you take the time to build it up." Akisame interjected. "We do not detect it because it is like still air, present all around us and unmoving. We grew up feeling it, so unless something changes it, we do not notice anything. But when you release it, it is like a sudden gust of wind, catching our attention."

"Exactly. Even so, most inexperienced fighters ignore it." Jack agreed. "Anyway, when I found out what it was, I had to teach myself how to use it. The Shi Tai Ye was able to offer advice, however even he was not able to teach me. But because it was not truly my own Ki, as I have none, I was able to read other people's Ki far more accurately than anyone else."

"But how does that work?" Miu asked, "What would be the difference?"

"Picture your Ki like your own body." Akisame explained, "If you closed your eyes, and held a friend's hand, you would most likely be able to tell who that friend was, especially if you constantly held that person's hand. But if you held a stranger's hand, you would not know anything about them, because the feeling and limitations of your own body would get in the way. Now imagine if your body was made out of the air. You would be able to feel every detail of their hand when you enveloped it, down to their fingerprints."

"Oh, I see!" Miu exclaimed, "So it is like you were able to read the fingerprints of Kenichi's spirit!"

"Yes." Jack answered. "In many ways, I now know him better than anyone else. However, I still do not know much at all. I only know his emotions, and fighting abilities. I do not know the sort of things only a close friend would know about him, like the food he likes, or the sort of things he would say in a conversation."

"Whu… What happened?" Kenichi's sing-song delusional voice interrupted. "Am I dead?"

"Looks like he is ready to train again!" Kensei said happily. "He is all yours, Jack." Immediately, they all went back to their spots on the porch where they were watching before. Sakaki curling hand weights, Akisame writing something with an ink brush on a scroll, Apachai kicking a tree trying desperately not to break it, and Kensei reading a book. The Elder seemed to have disappeared, and Shigure he sensed on the roof for some reason.

_Well I guess the conversation is over now. _The samurai thought to himself. Looking down at the now quickly recovering boy, he noticed that Miu was still holding his head, stroking his hair.

"I'm sorry about them. " She smiled up at him. "They are more interested in his training than anything else, and they are also really looking forward to seeing your training style. It was all they were talking about earlier. I think Shigure was especially looking forward to seeing another Weapon Master's swordsmanship."

"Well they are going to be disappointed then." He answered. "Whereas I am a Samurai, and will teach him Bushido, I do not believe that I will ever get him to use a weapon. And he seems proficient in weapons defense. Right now, he would benefit best from spiritual lessons rather than physical ones. Perhaps she would not mind a sparring match later." He said the last part while looking at Miu, but he was truly speaking to the woman lounging on the rooftop. She opened her eyes lazily and rolled over, on her side facing the Samurai, and stated to feed rice to her mouse. "Well we should not waste any more time." Jack said suddenly, changing the subject. "Come Kenichi, it is time for your training."

Kenichi was still quite weak, but was able to walk, and speak properly, so he did not have a problem continuing his training, especially after he heard that there would be no physical aspect. "Yes, Sensei!" he got up quickly and followed the Samurai out the front gate. "Ummm, Master Jack, Where are we going?" He asked once they were a few blocks away.

"Somewhere it is easy to get into a fight." Jack said simply.

"But you said that we would be working on spiritual stuff! Not physical!" Kenichi exclaimed, rather upset that he had been tricked.

"We won't be doing any fighting." Jack answered, leaving Kenichi confused, before adding, "As long as you do everything correctly.

* * *

They stopped at a coin shop where Jack convinced the clerk to buy his future currency for the straight metal price before spending several minutes wandering around what Kenichi remembered to be somewhere near the underground boxing arena, where Jack finally entered a bar. Jack felt bad about what he was about to do, it was not at all in his character, and was extremely morally questionable, but it would hopefully teach the boy a valuable skill. "Master Jack, What are we doing here? This is no place for you to take a minor!" Kenichi yelled, but followed him in anyway. The Samurai was used to places like this; He had stopped in far worse places in his travels through the future. In fact, this place –which by most people's standards would be considered to be extremely dangerous- was church compared to some bars Jack had sat in.

Despite his odd appearance, and the fact that a minor was accompanying him, No one said anything to Jack. He walked up to the bar silently, sat down and asked the bar tender for some hot water. When it was brought to him, he pulled some dried leaves out of his pocket, and dropped them in the water, stirring it around with a spoon. He did not speak to Kenichi until his drink was ready, looking at the boy, he saw him to be shaking, and gripping the edge of the bar as hard as he could. "This is a bad place, Master Jack! We need to get out of here!" He stammered nervously.

"Kenichi." He spoke finally, "Do you know the English word, 'Meek?'"

"N-No. I don't." he answered, extremely confused. Why was this man talking about random English words right now?

"Its' meaning is commonly misunderstood for weak or submissive. However it is quite the opposite." Jack stood up suddenly, bumping into a very large man who was carrying two mugs of beer, which spilled all over himself. The man looked like a very stereotypical American biker, complete with studded leather jacket, bald head, and tattoos covering his muscular body. He turned in a flash, dropping the now empty mugs, letting them shatter on the ground, and grabbed Jack by the front of his Dougi.

"Watch it punk!" the man yelled in Jack's face, "I ought to make you pay for that!"

Even in the face of such hostility, Jack remained calm, and smiled, "My deepest apologies, Friend. It was an accident. Here, let me buy you another round to replace those two."

The man squinted at him, still not satisfied with the result, "What about my shirt, huh? It's ruined because of you. Normally, I'd make you give me yours, but I don't wear _dresses_."

Jack continued smiling, "It is still fresh, if you go now, you can rinse the alcohol out in the bathroom. I will even buy you an extra drink while you are gone." The shirt was far from ruined. It could have waited a year before being washed, and would have been fine. But Jack ignored this. He was trying to prove a point to his Disciple.

The man held him for a few more seconds, before dropping him, and laughing. "How about you buy a round for my table, and we will call it even. Huh, little man?"

Jack looked around the room, and saw a table with four other men dressed the same as the man in front of him, "That seems fair. " Jack said, continuing to smile.

"Good. Hey boys! This _Lady _here is going to buy our next round of drinks!" they all laughed while the man went to the bathroom to rinse off his shirt.

Jack turned to the bar tender and ordered the five drinks for the table, and two extra to replace the ones the man spilled. He paid the Bartender, and he and Kenichi left as quietly as they came. "That was close!" Kenichi exclaimed as soon as they left the bar, "I thought for sure he was going to kill you!"

The samurai arched his eyebrow at the boy. "Do you think any of those men could have stood against your masters?"

"No, they wouldn't have had a chance." Kenichi said without hesitating.

"Then they would not have had a chance against me, either." Jack said solemnly.

"Then why did you let them bully you like that!?" Kenichi asked, "It was not your fault, you should have defended yourself!"

"Remember what I said about Meekness?" Jack asked. Kenichi nodded, prompting him to continue. "Meekness is not weakness. It is controlling the power you have, and knowing when to use it. It is the most valuable thing a Martial Artist can have. Just because You can win a fight, does not mean you should fight at all. I think you have some experience with this, but not enough. You need to learn how to avoid violence in any situation, and only consent to fighting when you believe you need to. The peaceful path is always the one you need to pursue."

"Y-You did that on purpose!" Kenichi yelled at him, "You set that up! You made him spill his beer deliberately!"

Jack frowned slightly. "Yes. I did. Although I took no pleasure in it. Just as I do not take any pleasure in this." Before Kenichi could ask what he meant, Jack grabbed him by the collar, and threw him into another bar, making sure to knock down as many tables as he could aim for. "My apologies, young one." He spoke calmly to the empty alleyway.

* * *

Not quite what most of you were expecting, I don't think. Also quite Out of Character for Jack, but then again, he has never had a Disciple before, so no one can really say what he would do in that situation, except maybe Mr. Tartakovsky. In any case, I feel sorry for Kenichi.

I am not happy with My Ki explanation, but whatever. It is what it is.

art/True-masters-356043860 Something I did today if any of you are interested.

Also, it is kind of funny how people stopped asking questions when I said I would start answering them. weird.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter up. I had no idea what to do next, I was really confused. But in the end I decided to follow the actual HSDK storyline. Also, hopefully some relationship development will occur between Jack and Shigure soon. But I really don't want to rush that at the same time, so we will see what happens. He has only been at the Dojo a day, after all.

* * *

With their disciple gone, the masters were rather board, and were doing their best to waste time until Kenichi and Jack returned. Apachai was playing Othello with Honoka who had arrived a few minutes after her brother had left. Akisame was chiseling another stone statue, Ma was reading a dirty novel, and Sakaki was drunk in the corner. The only one who was not actively doing something, was Shigure. After letting her search the Dojo for a few minutes, Akisame stopped her when she looked under his writing-table, which was barely tall enough for her mouse, Tochimaru, to stand under. "Which one are you looking for?" He asked calmly.

"I thought they would be back by now." She answered neutrally. And she was right, it had been several hours since Jack and Kenichi left.

"I am sure they are fine." Kensei spoke up, "After all, you said he was at least as good as you."

"But… so _long_." She emphasized.

"Kenichi is always gone, though!" Apachai exclaimed, "You have not worried about him in a long time!" he said clueless as always.

"Wait a second!" Honoka interrupted, "If all of you are here, who is my big brother with?"

"It took you long enough, I'm surprised you didn't ask as soon as you got here." Kensei muttered.

"He is with a new master." Akisame answered, ignoring the Chinese man's remark.

"What! Who is this new guy!? Why wasn't I notified!? What if he isn't good enough to train my big brother!? Why didn't you guys wait to get my approval!?" She jumped up, and waved her arms around dramatically as she lamented over her discovery.

"Don't worry. It looks like you get to approve him now." Akisame interrupted her, noticing that the Samurai and their disciple had returned.

"Kenichi!" Honoka screamed happily, "Where have you been!? I've been waiting all day!" her attitude changed instantly, when she noticed the condition her beloved brother was in.

"Woah! Looks like you had some fun without me!" Sakaki laughed drunkenly. "What'd you do to him, Jack? Get him in a bar fight?"

"More like ten." Kenichi answered tiredly. But there was no getting around it. He was covered in food, beer, sake, blood, dirt, and other unidentifiable substances. He reeked horribly, and felt infinitely worse than he looked. "I am never training with him again." He continued tightly. "He is crazy! He just threw me inside every bar, and strip club we walked past!"

"My apologies, but the strip club was an accident. I had no idea what that place was." Jack interjected, sincerely.

"And that is supposed make it better!?"

Jack paused for a few seconds before answering, confusedly, "Doesn't it?"

"I thought you told Miu that you were not going to make him fight." Akisame asked.

"What's this about throwing my big brother in bars!? How horrible of a person are you!? Don't you care for my big brother's safety at all!?" she carried on and on as she pounded away at the samurai with her toy hammer she always had on hand.

"He was not supposed to." Jack answered.

"That's no excuse! You could have gotten him killed!" Honoka continued swinging her hammer wildly as Apachai picked her up and carried her away.

"I think I get it." Kensei spoke up, ignoring the young girl, "He was supposed to get out of the fight by diffusing the situation. Is that right?"

"What's the point of that?" Sakaki yelled, still wasted, "Half the reason to go into a bar is to get into a fight! Otherwise, why bother? HAHAHAHA!" finishing off his beer, he threw it into the other room, landing it perfectly into a trash can. "Come on, Kenichi, get cleaned up, and let's train. It's my turn now." He got up and walked to his room to get another beer.

"SAKAKI! Stop drinking already!" Miu yelled from the room he threw the bottle into. "You have had too much already!"

"Oh dear." Akisame muttered. "I hope you do not mind him, Jack. He seems to have forgotten that you are still training Kenichi."

"It is quite alright." Jack smiled. "I am sure that the boy is anxious to get away from me." And he was right, when he looked to Kenichi, to give his permission, he was already gone. "It seems he has changed his opinion of your training." He chuckled.

"Haha, yes. We very rarely do situational training, and focus on physical training. So he probably thought he was going to get a break."

Jack was about to say something, but was distracted by the feeling of his sword moving against his thigh. Looking down, he saw a small grey mouse climbing up the ridge of his scabbard. It stopped at the tsuba and looked up at him for a moment before raising a paw. "Hello, little one." Jack smiled at it as he offered his hand. The mouse sniffed it, and huffed in disappointment that Jack was not offering it any food.

"Tochimaru seems to like you." Akisame spoke. "It normally takes him some time to get used to strangers." At this point, Tochimaru was reclining on the handle of Jack's sword, while leaning against the tsuba. It let out a relaxed sigh and fell asleep.

"How…Odd." Jack muttered to himself looking at the sleeping mouse.

"He is very comfortable around weapons. Normally, he helps Shigure clean hers. He must recognize the quality of yours. I am not surprised, he is extremely intelligent."

Jack smiled, and stroked the mouse's head affectionately. He had seen many things during his lifetime, and a mouse who cleaned weapons was hardly the strangest of them. "Perhaps he would like to clean mine sometime." He joked. "By the way, who was that little girl?" he asked, he had not seen her since Apachai carried her away. As upset as she was, the samurai noticed that she clung to him like he was a big dog who was protecting her.

"That was Honoka, Kenichi's younger sister. she often comes here to play games with Apachai and Shigure. it does not seem like you made a very good impression on her, but I would not worry. She did not like seeing Kenichi's regular training schedule to begin with. Apachai probably took her home to cool down, she will be back again soon.

Feeling someone tap his shoulder, he looked behind him, seeing no one, he realized who it was, and looked up and met Shigure's face. "The Elder wants to see you." She said flatly. He nodded, and started to walk off, but stopped, and looked at Tochimaru, worried that the sleeping mouse would fall if he started walking. However, Shigure put his worries to rest. "He will be fine. You will not bother him." She said flipping over to land lightly on her feet she glanced over her shoulder and beckoned to him to follow.

In the next building, Hyato was seated in the main room with Kensei and Appachai on either side of him, facing each other. Shigure and Akisame both took their places next in line, also facing each other, so it appeared that they were sitting around an invisible table. "Hello, Jack." The Elder smiled warmly, "We were just about to have a master's meeting while Sakaki keeps Ken-chan occupied. I will fill him in later, and since this is the first meeting we are having since you have arrived, we all wanted you to join in. Also, the subject of the meeting I think you will be interested in."

Jack bowed, answering, "It is a great honor to be allowed to sit in on your meeting."

The masters all laughed as him for a moment, before the Elder spoke, "You are not sitting in, Jack. You are a master just as we are, and are expected to participate and contribute in our meetings!"

Jack smiled and sat next to Akisame "Then it is an even greater honor."

Once they had all settled down, the elder clapped his hands on his knees, signifying the start of the meeting. "Now then, down to business. Sakaki recently came into some information via his underground contacts, that there is a major Yami base here in Japan. In fact, it is hidden inside the American military base located in Okinawa."

"Now that is troublesome." Akisame stroked his mustache, thinking.

"I am sorry, but what is an 'American Military Base?'" Jack asked, a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, yes. I 'm sorry, Jack." Elder apologized, "America is another country that (as far as their military goes) is far more powerful than Japan, It is in fact considered to be the world's leading superpower. Fortunately America and Japan are allies, so they placed a friendly naval base on our coast in Okinawa."

"They must be an evil country, if Yami is hidden inside one of their own bases." Jack frowned.

"Don't jump to conclusions. Yami is hidden in virtually every country, all over the world. Even great Japan. It is an unfortunate realty, and says nothing of the country itself. This is why when we go destroy the Yami base, we must be careful not to harm any of the Soldiers, Seamen, Airmen, or Marines there. We are there only for Yami members, and once they are disposed of, we will withdraw."

Jack nodded in understanding, before realizing the leap in conversation that took place. "Again, I apologize, but We are going to invade the base of this country's allies? And what will we do with the Yami members we capture?" He understood that the Yami organization needed to be brought to an end, probably more than anyone else did. However, he did not see the logic behind this plan, if one could even call it such. It seemed to consist of finding out where a Yami base was, and destroying it, regardless of what else was there. It did not seem very wise, but the samurai was beginning to feel that it was necessary. If Yami was as powerful as the masters around him, and himself were, then only true masters of Katsujinken could ever have a hope of taking them down. The idea still made him extremely uncomfortable.

"There is a special prison we have had built specifically designed to hold the leaders of Yami." Akisame answered, "It is called the Big Lock. Once we detain the leaders, they will be sent there. And yes. We will be invading the American base, but not as Japanese citizens. We do not want to cause a political upheaval, so we will go in as faceless terrorists." Jack stared at the man in nothing less than shock. He spoke of acts of terrorism as if they were an everyday activity, these people were crazier than he thought!

"He is joking." Shigure said quietly. "He means that is how the government will explain it. We won't hurt anyone." She paused then looked straight at him, "I promise."

Jack was stunned at her sincerity for a few seconds, but soon, he nodded and consented to the plan. He hated to be viewed as the, "bad guy" but in this case, it seemed that he did not have any choice.

"Good." Hyato smiled. "I am glad for your help, Jack. I understand how you feel. But it will not be in vain." He chuckled a bit before finishing, "Now one last thing. Apachai," He looked at the giant bronze man next to him.

"Apa!"

"Sakaki also said that there is a member of the nine fists guarding the base there as well. He is a Muay-Thai user named Agaard Jum Sai. Is this going to be a problem?"

"A…pa…" The word coming from the kindly man's mouth had lost all of the joy and happiness that it had once held, and was now a dead, emotionless pair of syllables.

"Apachai?" the Elder asked again.

"No. This will not be a problem for Apachai."

* * *

Someone noted that Aku was a very skilled fighter, even without his powers because Ikra was. However I would like to point out that the only people Ikra fought against were Aku's minions. so technically Ikra was never really fighting. Also, In Season 4 Episode 9: Jack Vs. Aku, Jack and Aku do fight, only Jack without his sword, and Aku in human shape not using any superhuman ability. As a Martial artist myself, I would say that Aku's fighting is better than average, however he would certainly not win against anyone who does it for a living. That being said, he could probably beat me. I'm better than average, but not quite at that level, haha. Needless to say, he gets his ass beat, and resorts to cheating before the fight is even half over. So yeah. In comparison to Jack, (Let alone any master) he sucks.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry It has been so long, I have been extremely busy. And for those of you who care, it will most likely be another month at least before I will be able to get another chapter done. But we have some non-plot related relationship development for Jack and Shigure. So... yay I suppose...

* * *

It had been several hours since the meeting, training was finished for the day, and most everyone had gone to their rooms for the night. Unlike the rest of the occupants of Ryozanpaku, Jack however, chose to stay outside for some time. He was sitting underneath the tree in the main courtyard, enjoying the night air when his meditation was disturbed. He felt something touch his shoulder, and looking over he saw that it was Tochimaru, the mouse. "Hello, little one. What are you doing out here so late, and so far away from Shigure?"

"Tochimaru can take care of himself." A female voice said from above him. But who else could it be, but Shigure.

"Good evening." Jack said politely while smiling.

"You should come up to the roof." She said flatly, before jumping out of sight, as gracefully as the air itself. He looked to the mouse, which tugged on his ear and nodded.

More out of curiosity than anything, Jack complied and stood up. Looking over to the roof, he saw that Shigure was already there, sitting with her back to him. With one step, he pushed off the ground, and was in the air, and in an instant, he was standing next to Shigure's crouching figure. "It is beautiful up here." He commented. Although he was only saying it to be polite, he did in truth, find the view and air extremely enjoyable.

"I would like your help with something." She said, once again ignoring him

"With what, may I ask?"

"I think I found one of my father's swords. Will you help me retrieve it?"

"One of your father's sword's?"

"He made them. They say that he was the closest to discovering the secrets of steal."

"What do you mean, 'secrets of steal?'"

Instantly, their blades were locked together. He looked down at the point where the edges bit each other, and saw that his sword had barely left a scratch, if that at all. His sword was forged by the gods! There was no blade forged by man that could stand up to it, without some enchantment behind it, such as the Scotsman's claymore. "What magic has this sword been forged with?"

"None but my Father's skill."

"And there are more like it?"

"Yes. I find them so they may not spill anymore blood."

"And you want my help?"

She blushed slightly, and looked down, showing any form of emotion to him for the first time. "Please."

"I will help, if you so desire."

"We cannot leave so soon before Okinawa, but I wanted to ask if you would go with me when we all return."

"Of course."

Without another word, she leapt to the ground and returned indoors, Tochimaru left with her leaving the Samurai alone in the night yet again.


	13. Chapter 13

So I'm back! I had to go to Colorado and take care of some family business, but it is all said and done with. I don't like this chapter much, it is the first I copied and adjusted from the actual Manga, and it did not work out quite as well as I hoped. there is too much going on in the background, and too much dialogue I need to label. I don't think I will make the forthcoming chapters quite this accurate again. I think I will just use them as a guide and completely rewrite the story while keeping to the actual plot.

* * *

The day was bright and cool as the Ryozanpaku family walked to the airport. Miu was cheerily chatting with kenichi while Jack walked next to Sakaki and Akisame. Akisame was telling the samurai about airplanes -considering that he had never ridden one before- when Sakaki grunted. Without a word, he and Akisame came up behind Apachai, and grabbed his shoulders. Confused, Jack turned to the elder to ask what was happening, but his question was answered a moment later. "ANYTHING BUT AN AIRPLANE!" the Thialander screamed while bear hugging a light pole.

"NOT AGAIN!" Sakaki yelled,

"GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!" Akisame followed.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Apachai continued, "Apachai will go on a boat!"

"That'll take all day!" Sakaki yelled back.

"Stop it you two!" The elder yelled at Akisame and Sakaki, "If you tear him away like that, you'll break the pole! It's only steel!"

Shigure (who had not left Ryozanpaku with the main group) appeared seemingly out of nowhere next to Jack and spoke, "At this rate, we won't board in time."

"Hey Apachai!" Miu called, while the three men were still struggling, "What if I make you hamburgers every day for a week!"

"NOOOO! Apachai WON"T GET ON THE AIRPLANE!"

"What about TWO weeks!"

"NOOOOO!" he continued, but then stopped, and slowly let go of the pole, "But if you'll do it for three weeks, Apachai will think about it."

They made it to the airport without having to calm the giant man, but they had to slowly coax him onto the plane itself, much to Kenichi's embarrassment from all the people staring. The plane ride itself went rather smoothly, while Apachai covered his eyes and asked if they were there yet every five minutes.

Generally, jack stayed away from public transportation if at all possible, and hated flying himself, but the plane was quite comfortable, and nothing like the machines in Aku's future. He was also much more comfortable knowing that the airplane was only a more sophisticated form of the flying machines that the man in Italy he studied under designed, so many millennia ago.

When they arrived after an hour or so, Jack was mildly surprised that they immediately went to the beach, and simply relaxed. He stayed in his dougi, and sat in an Idori stance. He was quite content until he saw Shigure. His entire life The Samurai had practiced Celibacy, which had never been that much of an issue for him. He was always too distracted to pursue romance, and too respectful and honorable to fornicate. He had rarely seen a woman who could distract him from his purpose, and even so, he was always able to keep his composure.

That all being said, the woman who now stood before him was nothing less than heavenly. It was all he could do to keep from staring at her nearly naked figure. He took a breath and closed his eyes. Such thoughts were unbecoming for one who walked the path he did. Thankfully, his thoughts were soon distracted. He could clearly feel eyes staring at him. Not the eyes of curious and confused populous, such he was used to. These eyes were spying eyes.

"I thought so! Are they from Yami's Okinawa base?" He heard Kenichi exclaim after speaking to Shigure.

"Nope, they'er probably from the government." The Elder replied.

"This one's quite troublesome." Akisame commented.

"There's a reason we look like we are just on vacation." Sakaki concluded. Kensei seemed too distracted by some teenage girls to bother contributing to the conversation.

But that was not enough for Kenichi. Angrily, he practically screamed far too loudly for Jack and the rest of the Master's comfort. "So did we really come here to have a showdown with Yami!?"

"You're too loud." Elder replied quite relaxed. "Though we've found the Yami base, Where it's located is the problem."

Jack sat silently and unmoving as the other Masters slowly introduced Kenichi to the location of Yami's base inside the American Army Base. He was predictably quite upset, and the Samurai ignored his antics. Soon though, he was distracted by something going on with Shigure yet again. This was completely unexpected on his part, and he did not know what to make of his feelings. He felt a twinge of unmistakable jealousy when a man tried to flirt with Shigure. She immediately denied his advances, which made him feel somewhat at ease, but it was the emotion that bothered him to begin with. Since when did he feel jealous of anyone for anything? He was far from perfect, but envy was a sin he had long since outgrown. It confused him, and he was forced to question why he had felt that way. He hated to admit it, but He was guilty of lusting the beautiful woman. But Lust did not birth jealousy. That was another emotion that he was not so sure he wanted to explore right now.


	14. Chapter 14

Not much to say, really. I don't like the Shinpaku introduction that much because I do not feel as if I accurately caught each of their characters, and It seems rather undescriptive or dry. something. I can't quite nail it down, but it just really bothers me and I don't know what to fix. It also was going to be longer, but I am really tired and want to go to bed. I suppose I could just post it tomorrow, but I have a habit of forgetting to post stuff I finish if I don't do it right away. So I'll just tack the end of this chapter to the beginning of the next one.

* * *

As the Elder, Kensei and Akisame drew out strategies in the sand, Jack went for a walk around the beach to help relax a bit before the big fight that night. After only a few minutes, he felt something strange and familiar. He stopped in his tracks and looked around curiously. Someone he had met before was nearby, but that was quite odd as he had only met a handful of people in the past two days, and nearly all of them were already here with him. However, he did not have to look for long before spotting what he felt. It was not so much a person, than it was a group of people. He first spotted the large boy, Thor. Then the one called Beowulf stepped out from behind him and caught Kenichi's attention. Then with a quick scan of the area, he noticed the girl, Freya was out in the water surfing. At first, those were the only ones he noticed, but he soon realized that more people of the same approximate age accompanied them. He could tell immediately that they were all martial artists, and from the incredible diversity he had seen thus far, he was curious to see what these children had to offer.

Freya was a doujutsu user, and Beowulf had mentioned that she specifically practices her family's secret art. Something he was happy to see had lasted from the time he was allowed to learn it in one of the temples he had visited as a child. Thor of course used a practical, and applicable form of Sumo wrestling. Beowulf was proficient in the Omote forms for the Naginata, and was learning the Gokui Hichijo. Now it was time to Discover why these youth were on their peers' level. He walked up to them and smiled at the three whom he had already met. "Greetings, Freya, Thor, and Beowulf."

Freya smiled and nodded, "Hello, master Jack."

Thor followed suit, and laughed happily, "Master Jack! I'm glad you are here!" he bellowed thunderously, his voice living up to his title. Clapping one of the other boys on the back he continued, "This is the guy we were telling you about! Ryozanpaku's new Master!"

Finally, Beowulf piped up, "Hello there, Mister Samurai. I'm glad to see that you are here."

"So you are a Master Class fighter?" A boy with the blue hair asked.

"Only compared to some." He smiled. "It is my understanding that you all practice different Martial Arts?"

"Yes, Master, Jack." Kenichi answered." They were all in a Gang called Ragnarock, who hunted high level fighters."

"Yes, I was told a little of this gang before I came to Ryozanpaku. If none of you mind, may I ask what you practice?"

"Sure thing!" the Blue Haired boy smiled cheerily. "I'm Takeda the Puncher, and I am a Boxer!"

"My name is Ukita the Thrower, and I use Judo." Another boy who was very tall with short, spiky hair commented.

"My name is Nanjo Kissara, Also known as Valkyrie. I am a Tae Kwon Do user." A red headed girl said rather grumpily.

Although the group was certainly an odd one, with a wide diversity of people whom did not seem to be quite "Normal," Nothing could have prepared the Samurai for the next introduction.

"My name is Seigfreid! And it is an honor to meet someone whose inner music can sing such a beautiful melody! I don't even need to fight you to hear your song! It is beautiful!" A tall boy, about the samurai's own height was the one introducing himself, however instead of speaking normally, he was actually singing. SINGING. Jack had no clue what to make of this, and did not even know how to react to the situation. Then without warning, he immediately stopped, and spoke normally. "I made my own style of Martial Arts, however it is closely based on Go No Sen Karate." As he spoke, he bowed slightly with one hand on his chest, respectfully.

"Oh, Thank you. You sing very well." Eager to change the subject from the strange boy, he made a gamble and spoke, "Who is he?" He asked, motioning to a boy who was tied to a tree. Kenichi was crouched next to him, and speaking softly.

"Oh, don't pay attention to that alien, freak. He's just Niijima.." The boxer answered. "He is the one who told us where you all were."

"So you have followed us? And what are you planning to do?"

This time it was the singing kid, who answered, and although he was not singing now, he spoke with an incredible passion and conviction. "We know of the Master's fight against Yami, and Kenichi is our friend. Although he tries to bear the world's burdens for all of us, we simply cannot let him. The Symphony of our friendship would be ruined if we allow him to face this great battle alone!"

"I think what he is trying to say," The Boxer interjected, "is that we don't really know what we are going to do, but we will help Kenichi in whatever way we can. And don't worry. Siggy scares all of us."

Jack was more than a little touched by these children's sentiment, and could not help but smile at them proudly. It was so refreshing to meet people of such strong moral conviction and honor. Especially in ones so young.

"And as Martial Artists, we would also like to be a part of Ryozanpaku's secret Operation!" the Boxer added the last part excitedly.

"What operation are you youngsters talking about?" The elder said between mouthfuls of rice he had pulled from the picnic basket they had brought along.

"Yes, we only came here for a vacation." Akisame added, quickly hiding some papers in his dougi.

Apachai started to say something, but Shigure quickly covered his mouth

"Everyone knows why you're here." Takada insisted, "Master Shiba even told me to make sure that you don't take all of the glory."

Completely ignoring him, Akisame pointed out the Elder's greatest weakness: a massage chair. With that the conversation was immediately over. Jack spent the rest of the evening talking with the Shinpaku members, walking on the beach, and a short time swimming. It was a nice way to relax before that fateful night.

-Break-

That evening, Jack was meditating the last few minutes before they left, going into battle. He sat on the floor at the foot of his bed in the Chidori stance, eyes closed, and sword at his side. He was as unmoving as a stone, and breathed even less. His mind was at peace, and he was confident that he would have ample control for the upcoming battle that would take place in less than an hour. Not even the breath he felt unexpectedly on his face broke his meditation. Eyes still closed he spoke, "Do you always get as close as you can to someone before they notice you?"

"No." was the only answer she gave.

He opened his eyes and met hers. This time she was not upside down, and was crouching in front of him, leaning forward. "I assume that your presence here signifies that we are ready to depart?"

"I wanted to ask you something." She said flatly, once again ignoring what he had just said. Taken aback, he nodded giving her permission to speak. "Did you mean what you said about helping me find my father's sword?"

"Yes. I did." He was a bit confused, he had already agreed to go with her after they returned to the Dojo, why would she think he lied to her?

"Good. That means that neither of us can die tonight."


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry it took so long to get this section up, I wanted to end it with the introduction of Jack's first real opponent, but I could not for the life of me, figure out who that should be.

* * *

Directly after Jack and Shigure spoke to each other, they left for the battle. It was a simple matter of jumping out the window to avoid the Children's watch. The Shinpaku alliance took this extremely seriously, but Jack knew as well as the other masters that they should not come. It was one thing risking their own disciple's life in a one on one match against another disciple, but it was something altogether to expose these children to what would be portrayed as an act f terror, with other masters as their opponents. Despite the explicit danger, the children insisted on coming, and had established guard positions in the lobby and other natural exits. But masters had their own idea of what was "Natural." After all, it was only a five story drop.

Unfortunately, Jack had noticed that the strange boy with pointy ears and nose was on the balcony next to them and had seen them leave. After seeing Apachai land behind him, the Samurai did not give it another thought. Apachai would make sure that the boy would not sound the alarm to the others. Never did it occur to him that Apachai was perhaps the most absent minded person in the world, and would -for whatever inexplicable reason- choose to bring the boy with them.

Once they had gotten to the American Base, they stopped about a half mile away to get a good overlook and make some last minute plans. It was only then that Kenichi had noticed Apachai who had been in the back of the group the whole time. Or to be more accurate, he noticed what Apachai was carrying. "Ummmm. Apachai, what is that you're carrying?" Finally noticing the boy in his arms, Apachai let out an alarmed wail.

"OOOHHHH! I accidentally brought Nijima!"

"Why are you so careless?" Miu teased him.

Nijima on the other hand, did not think that this was anything to joke about. " WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU _ACCIDENTALLY_ BROUGHT ME HERE!? HOW IS THAT EVEN _POSSIBLE!?" _

Before anyone else could make more noise, Sakaki and Shigure silenced Apachai and Nijima. "Shhhhh." They both whispered.

"Even after we managed to leave everyone else behind, of all the ones that could get caught up in this it had to be _him._" Kenichi muttered under his breath, still making sure that everyone could hear him.

Completely misunderstanding what had happened –or simply not wanting to blame Apachai- Akisame spoke, "Whereas were are grateful for you and your friends wanting to help, not even we know what is behind those walls. We cannot risk endangering any more people than necessary."

"What? If you don't know what you are really invading, then how could you possibly have a plan?" Nijima asked incredulously.

At this, Jack had to smile, and finally spoke, "Actually, young one, we have quite an interesting plan that I believe will come to a successful end. It is extremely well thought out." He motioned to the base where a huge man with long blond hair, a green Kimono, and a Red mask stood challenging the American soldiers.

"How is this in any way, 'well thought out'?" Niijima muttered to Kenichi.

"Don't ask me, I had no idea about any of this." He replied.

The two boys watched in complete shock as the man tore down the gate effortlessly, and without hesitation. As he proceeded to cause as much destruction as he possibly could, Apachai became extremely excited and started to cheer the masked man on, "Go Garyu X! YOU CAN DO IT!"

Hearing the Elder's "Code Name" for the first time, Jack wondered why they even bothered considering that the disguise was as thin as rice paper. Then looking back at Apachai, he realized that the man was completely oblivious to the fact that Garyu X was indeed, the Elder. Giving what was not the first –or last- exasperated sigh, the Samurai took a breath and forced himself to relax. This man's lack of intelligence was extremely slowly getting on his nerves. Jack was a patient man, but he was unaccustomed to living with people for long periods of time. Even his closest of friends, the Scotsman, drove him to the brink of insanity after more than a few days. Even so, He could not bring himself to feel anything but kindness for the man. He was not that intelligent, but he was good and pure hearted, despite his blood soaked past.

Using the Eld- _Garyu X's_ distraction as cover, the remaining group ran through the outskirts of the base. Kenichi and Niijima looked, astonished, at Garyu X's skill and power, but Jack suspected that the man was more than a Master. He was something above Master Class. But even so, he could not help but be a little impressed at the man's incredible power. He had never seen anything like the Ryozan-Blast before, and was determined to master it once they returned to the Dojo.

They continued moving through the base, closer and closer to the center where all the secrets are held. They stopped a few times to get their bearings, or cover, or make up a new plan, but despite all of this, they were making very fast progress. At some point, Jack had not noticed, Nijima even managed to steal a uniform from a high ranking officer. Something about suiting his position, whatever that meant. Jack was not a militaristic man, and did not feel the same way about rank and leadership than most people did.

After quite a while of sneaking and searching about, they finally found something worth running into. A man in full armor on a horse had galloped toward them, and attempted to run Shigure through with his lance. Without even knowing that he himself was doing it, Jack had raised his blade and had leaped toward the man. An instant before he made contact, he heard something that caused him to twist around to the side, just barely missing the man. The sound was Shigure. "NO! Keep going! I will take care of him!"

Jack hesitated, and was about to protest, but Akisame had already agreed and left. Regretfully, he followed after them. It almost hurt to leave her behind as such. Not because he did not think she was capable enough to handle the knight, but because to someone like him who has walked the Path of Life, and had lived Bushido to such a full extent that he may very well be qualified to rewrite it, it was unnatural to leave someone he cared about behind. Pushing the feelings of guilt and angst to the back of his mind, he carried on. Fortunately, he was not the only one having misgivings about this. He overheard Akisame speaking to Kenichi, "There are bound to be more enemies ahead of us, as well as the fact that we need to move as quickly as possible in order to recover information on Some of the financial band political backers of Yami. We need to take control before they destroy it all."

Following the group, they ran through another doorway. This one was immediately met by a man holding a long spear with feathers behind the head. "I suppose that the black knight thought that he was good enough to take out one of you. So I suppose that means I need to at least take on two of you."

Taking interest in the confidant man, Sakaki spoke up, "So why did you attack Shigure first?"

"Don't misunderstand that. I did not give any orders, he acted on his own. He thought that those of you without weapons were not as dangerous, and could therefore be taken care of later." Jack grinned at this obvious miscalculation. No person who believed such a falsehood could possibly win against Shigure.

"Heh, you're interesting." Sakaki scoffed, "I will be your opponent. Alone." Moving with blinding speed, Sakaki was in front of the man.

"Shame." The man spoke. "If only you took one more step forward, everything would have been over."

Confused at what the man had said, he moved over to see that the man had positioned his spear against Sakaki's stomach. Striking the shaft,with incredible force, Sakaki yelled a reply, "Fool! That is why I did not take another step!"

"You are a fool if you think that you can defeat me alone!"

"Loser! I'll show you who is the fool!"

The banter continued as Akisame herded them to the next room. The next room as it turned out was the size of a closet, circular, and had glass walls. Jack was confused for a moment, and startled when it began to move. Realizing that it was one of those moving rooms that took you to different floors, he relaxed but only a little. Jack preferred the stairs. When the room stopped moving, the doors opened, to reveal three shadowed figures in the darkness of a larger room. Akisame and Kensei stepped out, and he followed them. "Kenichi," Kensei spoke, "Why don't you go on with Apachai. We will stay here for now." The doors closed behind them, leaving the six in the room together.

"Jack, would you like to choose your opponent?" Kensei asked conversationally, as if they were ordering food from a restaurant.

"Yes, this is your first battle with us, so you should choose first." Akisame agreed.

Jack thought for a moment as he stared at the three figures who sat in the shadows, waiting patiently. One was rather short and slim, wearing a lighter version of armor that Samurais wore when going into battle, and held a katana. Another was much larger, and wore the full Samurai Armor, covering much more than the other did. It would make him slower, but Jack had a feeling that this samurai was extremely powerful as compensation, and held a Hoko Yari with a single blade. The third was wearing Teutonic Armor and held a long Halberd. He seemed to be the most relaxed, and confident of the three. His stance was respectful, but imposing. He seemed like a good match. "I will take the German. If neither of you mind."

"Not at all, Jack." Kensei spoke, "I wanted the big one anyway."

"Yes," Akisame agreed. "The smaller one seems to kill more elegantly."

"If you are all done deciding who gets who," The small one spoke, "Then let's finish this over with." The figure stood up to reveal that it was, in fact, a rather beautiful young woman. To neither Akisame or Jack's surprise, Kensei immediately changed his mind.

"Akisame, I don't suppose you would like to trade?"

Not wanting to wait around for those two to settle the change, Jack stepped forward to the Knight. "I am honored to be your opponent this night." He said, bowing respectfully.

"As am I, Samurai." The man responded, his voice sounding tinny through his helmet. But instead of bowing, he held the halberd at the ready. "Although it pains me to do so to a fellow Weapon user, I must take your life this night. I beg your forgiveness, and pray that God will have mercy on your soul."

* * *

I finally decided on the Teuton Knight because in this story arc, the Yami masters are the Spear of the East, West, and I think North. So I made the Spear of the south as well. I could be wrong, but I do not think that the girl is one of the spears since she uses a sword. And if she is, than she shouldn't be. I chose European, because there were two Japanese men (One might be Chinese, not sure), and one Englishman, so I thought that a German Knight would balance the scales. Also, I love the Teutons. They are in my top five favorite War Classes.


	16. Chapter 16

Ok, so I am not happy with this chapter, so anything negative that you have to say, I probably already agree with you.

* * *

The man leaped toward Jack, which was quite the impressive feat, since he was wearing full armor that looked on the heavy side of 50 lbs. Thrusting the head spike on the Halberd toward the samurai, Jack twisted out of the way easily. But the Knight pulled back, bringing the beard of the axe toward Jack's head. Ducking down, the samurai drew his sword, and leaped forward, seeming to glide across the floor, swinging his blade at the man's legs. Even though they were armored, he jumped, pulling his feet above the arc of the swing, and pointed the polearm down and drove his full weight toward the ground, aiming for the Samurai who was still moving forward into his path. Jack gripped the floor with the fingertips of his free hand, and pulled his body to the side, rolling out of the way of the spike which pierced the floor. He rolled through a doorway to another room, and landed in a large, cushioned chair but was able to use his momentum to knock it over and land behind it. In the same movement, he kicked the chair toward the pursuing Knight, who in turn, struck at it with the axe blade of the polearm. Though the blade was only approximately six inches long, the chair itself split in half; each piece flew to either side of him, crashing to the ground. But Jack was right behind it, and blocked the downward swing with his sword. He expected to slice through the shaft of the polearm, but it only met a metal strip running down the belly of the shaft. Jack frowned as their weapons were locked together, the strip went all the way from end to end. Even so, his blade should have sliced through it easily. Rolling to the side, he slashed again, even harder than before. Coming from the side, his blade cut into the wooden pole, but stopped when it met the same strip of metal, and another on the top mirroring the first.

"Try all you like, Samurai, The steel my weapon is made from, was forged in Yami's special armory. This is some of the best steel in the world, and your sword is no match against it." spinning the head of the Halberd, the knight locked Jack's sword in the beard of the axe blade. "You have lost, Samurai." Twisting his weapon, the Knight forced the Sword from Jack's Grip. He was incredibly strong, almost unbelievably so. Jack had nearly forgotten what it was like to go against someone so skilled. But he was not one to let a miscalculation defeat him so easily.

He rolled out of the way of the blade coming down, aimed at his shoulder. He stopped crouched down on the balls of his feet, leaning forward with one hand on the ground. But no sooner than his body was set, than he saw the head spike of the axe being thrust toward his face. He reflexively caught it with his free hand and dug the front stilt of his sandal into the ground bracing himself. He was driven back a few feet by the sheer momentum and weight of the fully armored man in front of him, but the stilt caught a ledge in the floor and he stuck fast. Trying to gain better leverage, the knight raised the butt of the Polearm, and tried to thrust downward. Taking advantage of the movement, Jack pushed his end forward and down, so it was vertical then with a herculean effort, he lifted up with his single arm, bringing the Knight off of his feet. The armored man had to make a choice, either relinquish his weapon, or hang on and see what would happen. Either way, he was at a disadvantage. In a ditch effort, he kicked at the Samurai, aiming for his head. Jack caught the boot with his free hand, and threw the knight to his side, while pulling the axe to the other way. The man, unable to fight against the momentum of the Armor he wore, crashed into a wall. The samurai took this opportunity to retrieve his sword, resolved to not let it leave his grip again.

By the time he was ready to face the knight again, the man was just coming to his feet. Jack threw the Halberd like a javelin sticking it into the wall six inches from the knight's head. He took a wide stance, and held the blade at an upward angle keeping his hands low, signaling that he was ready. The knight nodded, and pulled the halberd from the wall, and held it at the ready, horizontally. "That is kind of you, Samurai. But I must regretfully inform you that the courtesy will not bring you any mercy from my blade."

"Such is the path of death, I would not expect anything better." The Samurai spoke solemnly. "I have held your weapon, and I know how it feels. It is no match against my blade."

"Your blade was not a match against my own before, you think that because you touched mine, it will magically become weaker?" Jack remained silent, and stood at the ready. "You may be courteous, but you are naive." The knight charged, his halberd at the ready. To his credit, he was considered to be a master for a reason, but he had never faced against a Samurai such as this one before. Jack locked his blade between the head spike and the axe blade, stopping him in his tracks. The knight tried to twist the sword from Jack's hands again, but that was something that the Samurai would never succumb to again. Twisting his wrists, Jack twirled the sword around like a spiral, until the blade bit caught on a nick in the metal bands. Perfect. He felt a deep scratch earlier while holding it, and it gave him an idea. Now that his sword had found the same scratch, heducked under the axeblade, running the length of his sword until the tsuba met the polearm. In one smooth movement, he put all of his strength into a single slice. He was only able to cut through one band but that was enough. The wooden pole was severed, and the head was only kept attached by the other band, rendering the weapon unusable. To top it off, Jack drove the tip of his sword against the Knight's armor, cutting a deep slice into the side, stopping the blade before it cut through the man's ribs. His armor was made out of the same metal as his weapon, but Jack's sword tip was much sharper than the blade, and the armor gave him a much larger target to work against.

"You have fought well, most noble knight. Do not let shame consume your defeat."

"You have defeated me, Samurai, deliver the last strike and let me regain my honor."

Calmly removing his sword from the armor, Jack sheathed it and stood in front of the knight. Completing what he thought to be his last moments, the knight fell to his knees, not out of shame, but respect to the victor. "You will not die this day." Jack spoke in reverence. "You have fought well, and are a worthy opponent. As one who follows the Path of life, It would sorrow me to take such talent from the world. Remove your helmet." Silently, the knight did as he asked, and as soon as his head was revealed, Jack struck out, hitting him on the side of the head, knocking him out before he hit the ground. Without another word, Jack turned around and went to see how the other masters were doing.

* * *

Ok, so someone said that I could have brought one of Jack's old enemies back to fight him, which I _could_ have done, and may do in the future, but the problem is that all of Jack's main enemies are in the distant future. He landed approximately halfway between his own time, and where he was in Aku's future, so no one he knws is still alive, with a few exceptions, which I may or may not visit in the future.

Someone wanted ot know if I was going to track Shigure's fight, and no. I am not. If I follow hers, then I have to follow all of the other Masters. I am not going to alter anything, other than things that are taken directly from Jack's perspective, so it would be pointless of me to just rewrite things from the manga when you can go read them. Sorry, I'm lazy.

And a few people were really excited with the whole, "Knight Vs. Samurai" thing, but to me it is not a big deal. the whole thing with this style being better than that style is a load of Garbage. I do not think that any warrior class is inferior to any other, (With one or two exceptions.) Each one was designed and developed as to what was appropriate for that country and culture, as well as the resources available to them. Actually, in an official test done between the classic British Knight and the Samurai, the Knight won, because his armor was made out of solid steel, and his broadsword was much more sturdy. The Samurai's Armor was lighter, and not as protective, and the Katana is not meant to ever touch steel. The Samurai's main strategy is to kill in one swing, which is impossible when your blade is not strong enough to cut through plate steel, and your opponent's armor has no openings. And Virtually any longsword whereas it may not be able to cut through the Samurai's armor, will crush the person wearing it, causing massive blunt trauma. So the whole thing with East Vs. West is a ridiculous myth. they are both extraordinary fighters, that belong in their own element.


	17. Chapter 17

O.K. So I am really it took me so long to get this chapter up. There are lots of reasons behind it, the most recent being writer's block. I barely figured out how to get past this spot, and I am not really happy with how it turned out. I will complain about it at the end of the chapter, so nothing is spoiled. However, I would like to point out, that I have absolutely no clue what the plural form of "Ki" is. I looked it up several times, and the best I can figure, is that the plural of "Ki" is "Ki" however, I needed some way to say that the two Ki were separate, so I had to sorta make up the horribly sounding word, "Kis" it is NOT right and I know that. But it is the closest I can get to to what I want to say. so I apologize.

* * *

Exiting the room, Jack could feel the other masters nearby. As far as he could sense, most of them were finished fighting, but he could sense four incredibly powerful Ki sources. The most potent one was coming from outside, which he knew was Hyato. Another was more pure anger than anything else, and he could feel that that person was not currently fighting. The other two were together, and the samurai knew that there was something different about them. They were fighting, but they did not feel very aggressive for some reason. Distracted by the unique feeling of the two combating Kis, Jack did not notice the slight figure come up behind him until they were a few feet away. Startled, he drew his sword and spun on his feet, his blade slashing through the air. For a normal person, or even most martial artists and a few lower masters, his movement would have been too fast to match. But for the person he began to attack, it would have been just slow enough to dodge. This is what made it all the more surprising when they did not move. Jack stopped the blade as soon as the edge touched the skin of the person's neck, and saw who it was.

"Shigure-San. It is good to see that you are well." Although that may have been an overstatement considering her clothes and even chainmail was in shreds, he did not see that she was injured.

As he lowered his sword and sheathed it, she replied, "You can feel it too?"

"Yes, it is very strange. Do you know who it is?"

Nodding, she replied, "Follow me." Running after her, he thought about what had just happened. She fully had the capability to block his reflexive strike from before. And although she never showed any emotion normally, he did not think that she had felt any fear in that moment. Did she really trust him that deeply?

Unfortunately, this would be another thought that he would have to save to dwell on later, as they were nearing the source of the two Kis. He followed her through the ceiling scaffolds and through air ducts until they came out above a giant statue of a figure lying on its side. It was easily around one hundred feet long, and thirty feet high. Dropping behind it in the gap between it and the wall, the two masked their Ki slinked through the shadows until the came around to the head where they sat and watched.

Glad to find the source, Jack saw that it was Apachai and another apparently Muay Thai Master who was radiating the strange Ki, along with Kenichi and another boy who was presumably the other man's disciple. Although he still was not sure why it felt so different. They were currently preforming a very unique ritual done only by Muay Thai artists. "Wai Khru Ram Muay." Jack could not help but whisper the sacred dance under his breath. It was a special dance that was an offering to God and to man. Normally, it was done so each fighter could get used to the ground, as well as see their opponent's fighting style. Normally if each fighter judged the other to fight either the same as themselves, or had the same power, they would end the match then at a draw. However, these two were not doing the traditional dance; they were doing an ancient variation that was grounded in Muay Boran. This fight was far more serious than he had thought. Feeling Shigure's hand on his shoulder, he turned his head to her slightly, not wanting to take his eyes off of this monumental clash of masters.

"Agaard was Apachai's friend, and taught him very much of what he knows about Muay Thai." She whispered in his ear. That explained it. The strange feeling of the Ki did not feel aggressive, despite its incredible power, and the fact that they were going to fight until one of them died. They were still friends, loved each other as brothers, and respected the other's fighting ability. Jack could only guess at what they had to prove to each other before they had agreed to come to the final level of their match. This was something beyond mere Martial Arts, it was the souls of two men epitomizing every moment of their lives up to this point. It was two friends showing each other how far they had come.

Finally, they reached the end of the dance, "They are going to use _that_?" Jack gasped quietly, "The Bolisud Look Mai!?" These were incredibly dangerous and secret techniques used only by the highest of Muay Boran Masters, and was the most rare and sacred style even when Jack was in Thailand so many millennia ago. They stood in the reverential stance for a moment before unleashing the whole of their abilities on each other. In a fraction of a second, the atmosphere went from the calm before the storm, to the heart of a hurricane. The two men's movements were so fast, and their strikes so powerful, that even Jack's great experience was hard pressed to find memory of witnessing an equally intense battle. They exchanged blows that even Jack could feel, and their screams so vehement, that Jack would not be surprised if ever living person on the base could hear them.

The fight itself was quite short, although it felt like it lasted for several hours. But it ended just as quickly as it began. The two men went from their bodies a blur, only traceable by Master's eyes, to as still as stone statues. Standing completely motionless and in an air as silent as death, it was clear what had happened. The man, Agaard had driven his fist straight through Apachai's whole body, very close to his heart. After a moment, Apachai jerked, striking Agaard's arm out of his chest, and continued to deliver three final blows before he collapsed. Despite his mortal wound that most men would have died from instantly, each strike was just as powerful as any one of the ones he had delivered minutes before, if not more so.

In a state of fear, loyalty, and love, Kenichi drove towards his own opponent, and straight towards the fallen giant. Even the other disciple's attacks toward him in that moment were completely ignored as he bore them, only worrying about his master. But it changed very quickly when Agaard announced, "We will kill, and they will win without killing. Wonderful, Apachai. This is a draw." No sooner than the last syllable left his lips, than his whole body collapsed to the ground, face first. His broken body lay in honor next to Apachai's lifeless one.

In a fit of passion, the two disciples attacked each other without mercy, as if they were attacking the person who had harmed their own master. Jack noticed that Kenichi, although more than proficient in Jujitsu, several styles of Chinese Kenpo, and Karate as well as Muay Thai, was using _only_ Muay Thai. Strategically, this was foolish, as Muay Thai -though a very capable art itself- was not very good as changing tactics very quickly, so it would have been better for Kenichi to switch between as many styles as he could, and keep his opponent guessing. He was sure that Kenichi knew this, which could only mean one thing. Despite the morbid scene that just took place, Jack could not help but smile at the honor his new disciple possessed. But even so, the Samurai knew that is Kenichi did not get his emotions under control, his opponent would make quick work of him. But as he watched, he felt his disciple slowly calm down. Then he saw it. In a sudden change, as the other disciple leapt at him, Kenichi shifted his stance, and sent a powerful kick at the exact spot where his opponent's defense was weakest. It was as if he was kicking in opposite directions, but with one leg against the ground, all of the power was pushed into his other leg, so the one kick had the full power of both his legs behind it. It was impressive, and perfectly delivered. But there was one weakness to it. Because of the perfect balance needed, he could not guard his upper body. Most fighters of his class, or even higher still would not be able to counter, but Jack saw that this opponent was not normal. Somehow, the boy had twisted his body, and delivered an incredibly powerful kick to Kenichi in his most exposed spot at the exact same moment that he was hit. As he flew through the air, Kenichi crashed to the ground. Both were severely injured, and could barely stand, but through their resolve to protect their masters' honor, they found the strength to continue.

On shaking legs, they came to their feet, first the other disciple, then with a great force of effort, Kenichi. When Kenichi, took up the Tan Guard Muay, his opponent laughed, but Jack understood what Kenichi was doing. His fallen master practiced Muay Thai, so it was Muay Thai that Kenichi had to use to honor his defeat.

It was clear that this was now the final moments in the battle. In one last magnificent clash, their bodies tangled together in a flurry of punches and kicks. For a moment, it seemed as though the other disciple was going to win, but suddenly out of nowhere, Kenichi came back with an incredibly powerful punch. It was a fundamental technique that most Muay Thai Boxers dismissed when they moved on to more advanced techniques. It was the Apanch. But most True Masters knew that it had great potential, and practiced it to perfection. If perfected, its power was almost unrivaled. Before the boy had a chance to recover, Kenichi lunged forward and delivered an equally powerful kick. It was like the Apanch, in that it too had magnificent hidden potential, and was ignored by most practitioners. It was the Chai Kick.

It was very clear that those two moves were too much for Agaard's disciple. When he apologized to his master for his defeat, Agaard said something that Jack was not entirely expecting the man who had killed his friend to say. "Don't blame yourself, Koukin. That was a magnificent battle! Apachai's Disciple, This is your victory!"

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Ok, I would like to apologize for Apachai's death. I feel like as soon as it hapened, I just moved on, and made Jack out to be a heartless, uncaring bastard. But the problem, was that I have to keep him there for what happenes next, and so that he would not interfere with either Apachai's or Kenichi's fight. I am trying not to change the story too much, and Apachai's death is a major plot pillar that I cannot change at all. The obvious answer would be to just not have Jack there at all, but the problem with that is that in the manga, once the Masters' mini battles are over, you don't see them until they are convenient to the plot again. That leaves a huge hole where you have no idea what they are doing, until they magically reappear. So this was the only course of action I could really take, unfortunately. it places the characters a little O.O.C. but after I get through this section of the story, it will be smooth sailing again. I maybe promise.


	18. Chapter 18

O.K. I am terribly sorry. I have been putting off writing this chapter, mainly because I hated the only idea that I had for it. I am looking forward to getting past this part, and moving on to Jack and Shigure interaction, but unfortunately that will have to wait. It was wrong of me to make the surprising amount of people who actually like my writing (I mean seriously? I do not understand why you guys like it so much, I thought I sucked at writing.) wait for another chapter. it was only today when someone messaged me asking why i haven't updated that I decided to force myself to finish this chapter. Well we are almost to the end of this arc, and I cannot wait to move on to the masters going into hiding. I have a few ideas on where to take that. I will also try to update more regularly in the future. I know the fist few chapters were posted every day, but I can no longer do that. I will aim for once a week or so.

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As soon as Kenichi was declared the victor, Jack wanted to go congratulate him, but no sooner than Agaard proclaimed his victory, than another Master appeared. Jack was too distracted before to feel the Ki, but as soon as he burst through the door, the samurai could feel an overwhelming aura of anger, hatred, and pure bloodlust. The man had one eye covered in bandages, and carried a large sword that looked somewhat like a scimitar. He was definitely someone who their disciple should not be involved with. Stepping forward, the man spoke, "What are you doing on the ground, Agaard?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued speaking, noticing Apachai's lifeless body on the ground. "Oh, so you did manage to kill one of the Ryozanpaku masters. At least you did that much." Stepping forward, the man stomped hard on Apachai's back. "Yup. He is dead. Definitely dead."

Anger surged through Jack's soul; he struggled to keep it under control as he watched this man disrespect his fallen friend. He could feel the Ki radiate off of Shigure as she went through the same process. Glancing over at her, he saw her face was just as emotionless as always, despite her pure emotion that he was practically drowning in. The only reason he did not strike down the man before them was because he needed to see how Kenichi would react. He was not disappointed.

"Stop it!" Kenichi screamed in righteous anger. "Get the hell off of him!" In his fury, Kenichi exerted an impressive wave of Ki that would have knocked most people off their feet, but this was a Master Class fighter. (Although, Jack judged him to be an incredibly weak one by their standards, and felt somewhat better about allowing the situation to escalate.)

"I come all the way to Okinawa and who do I find but this brat again." The man spoke unfazed. "Now that I think about it, ever since my first run in with you, I have had nothing but bad luck. In any event, how about I just kill you now and put an end to it."

"STOP!" Agaard interrupted. "Don't touch him!"

"Strong words coming from a man who can't even move."

"Why don't you come over here and see if that is true?"

"How stupid do you think I am? You are the type of man who would bite me if you could so much as turn your head. But why do you care anyway? Are you getting emotional over this brat or something?" He scoffed. "Well I don't give a rat's ass anyway. Since I am the only one in the room who can move, why don't I just kill you too? After all, you are a member of the pathetic unarmed group!" Standing over Agaard, he smiled wickedly before continuing. "But let's put that off for now." He said sadistically. "What I really want to do not is cut this brat apart!" he turned toward Kenichi and lunged forward, swinging his sword in a wide arch.

Jack was just about to step in, when Shigure grabbed his arm, and held him back. He was about to ask why, but then he herd Agaard call out, "Clinch, Apachai's Disciple!" Following his instructions, Kenichi not only survived the other master's attack, but also was able to land a blow to him.

Understanding what Shigure wanted to do; he reluctantly nodded his consent and settled down. He wanted to stop the fight, and go to his friend's body, but it was still not time. Agaard continued to instruct him, keeping him alive, and preventing the immediate need for Jack and Shigure to step in. For quite some time, Kenichi was able to fend off the sword master, and in the process, added immense experience to his combat skills. But finally after several minutes, it reached a point where Kenichi was lying on his back and barely fending off the swordsman with an improvised form of Muay Boran. In a powerful downward strike, The Swordsman swung his sword in a killing blow. Agaard spat a rock at the Swordsman hoping to distract him. But to no avail, effortlessly, the man knocked the rock to the side with his hilt, and continued the swing in the same movement. But the distraction was just enough for Kenichi counter attack. He stood up, and deflected the blade with his gauntlets, and with the same fist, threw as powerful a punch as was possible for him at the swordsman. With strong conviction, he shouted, "I can hear Apachai's voice telling me, 'Do not give up!'"

"Are you talking to the dead now? My you are the impatient one." He mocked. "Do not worry, I'll send you there to meet up with him soon enough."

Jack was done waiting. Kenichi was in serious trouble, and Agaard could no longer help him. Jack was about to finally step in, but a sudden burst of Ki practically knocked him off his feet. He stumbled a few steps, and had to use his sword as a cane to keep himself upright. The Ki was so powerful that the Samurai was getting dizzy. Feeling a hand on his arm, supporting him, he looked over to see Shigure steadying him. "Look." She said, her voice filled with reverence. Looking where her eyes were fixated, Jack saw something that brought a smile to his face. Even in such a morbid moment. There, standing before them, was Apachai.

"What!?" The swordsman screamed in anger, "You bastard! You did not kill him, Agaard!?"

"What is this?" Agaard whispered in a voice laced with fear. "It can't be…."

"Apachai…." Apachai rasped, "Apachai…. Decided…. That he would protect Kenichi… Even if Apachai was dead…. Even if Apachai has to come back… From Hell." It seemed like every word took all his strength to say. Now that he was standing and talking, the wound that killed him was bleeding freely. Seeing this as an opportunity to strike, the Swordsman jumped towards Apachai, aiming to cut him in half. Just as he swung his sword, Apachai screamed, "AUPAUNCH!" with a single strike, the giant Thailander not only broke the sword, but shattered it completely as well as shattering the ground, and sending the swordsman flying across the room, and through the wall. Jack knew the Thai Boxer was strong, but he was impressed at the raw power he exerted in protecting his disciple.

"Apachai-san!" Kenichi exclaimed with nothing less than exuberance, "That's right! It is impossible for my master to die!"

But his master did not share his enthusiasm. "I am sorry Kenichi. I made a promise to the Shinigami." Looking at his disciple for the first time, Apachai gave a strange smile. "He only gave me a little more time. That is why. The Manjuu in the fridge, it is ok if you eat them."

"Very good, Apachai!" Agaard laughed happily. "The last one standing is the winner! To be able to return from the world of death, that is quite like you, Apachai!"

"Agaard." Apachai whispered, it seemed as though with that single word, there were volumes of understanding spoken between them. Turning to Kenichi, he placed a hand on the boy's head. "Apachai's first disciple….. Kenichi. The time when I must keep my promise to the Shinigami has arrived."

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So Apachai dies a second time. yay... funtimes. So yeah, for those of you that know what happens next, yay. for those of you who don't he stays dead... really... Not joking...


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